By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA — The low-cost internet subsidy program Connecting Families has enrolled just over 81,000 households, but many thousands more are eligible, according to an Innovation Canada tally.
The program’s first iteration was launched in November 2018 and offered low-income Canadians 10 Mbps download and 100 GB for $10 per month. An updated version, called Connecting Families 2.0, launched on April 1, 2022 and increased those speeds to 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload — the federal objective speeds — and 200 GB of monthly data for $10 more. Both options, however, are available.
According to ISED answers tabled this week to questions from NDP member of parliament Brian Masse, 81,098 cumulative households across the country are enrolled in the program. However, ISED notes that this data does not reflect the results of an October 25 mail out of eligibility notices to 342,387 households. According to the data table, 509,774 households were notified that they were eligible for the program and about 6,000 have enrolled this fiscal year.
The year before, the program had a total tally of 75,140 with 3,724 enrolling in that fiscal year. In the program’s pilot year, 17,696 households enrolled out of a “randomized selection” of 360,000 households were sent invitation letters to the program.
Eligible households include those that are receiving the maximum Canada Child Benefit and low-income seniors receiving the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement.
The program, which will be offered until March 31, 2027, is an initiative of internet service providers who are not reimbursed by the government.
