By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Innovation Canada has not yet delivered all money announced to certain large internet service providers from the roughly six-year-old Connect to Innovate program as of May 4.
In a tally recently released in response to a question from Conservative member of Parliament Dan Mazier, the department said it has transferred roughly $98.4 million out of an announced $110.8 million to Bell and roughly $14.3 million to Telus out of an announced $28.9 million. Shaw, now part of Rogers, had $11.4 million reserved for it, but ISED does not say if it received any of it. Rogers was not allocated any CTI funds.
The CTI program, birthed in late 2016, allocated $585 million to ultimately improve or build out infrastructure to over 975 rural and remote communities, including 190 indigenous communities, by this year.
For the much larger $3.225-billion Universal Broadband Fund, ISED has delivered roughly $6.5 million out of an announced $210 million to Bell, $17.7 million out of $38.8 million to Telus, and $794,707 out of $5 million to Rogers.
The department said for these types of projects, the payment is made on a claim basis, meaning the telecom will have built the infrastructure and filed for reimbursement. Because projects can be large, complex and take years to complete, ISED noted that “it is not unusual for the majority of expenses to be filed and paid toward the end of a project.”
Supply chain issues and the pandemic have made it more difficult for service providers to get the required equipment to complete builds on time, which was a complaint for the fast stream of the UBF — which required completion of projects by November 2021.
ISED has said that two-thirds of available funding announced under the CTI program was for projects led by small ISPs, municipalities and indigenous entities and the rest allocated to large ISPs; under the UBF, the department said the announced allocations are closer to half between those cohorts.
The federal government said it is on track to exceed its goal of 98 per cent connectivity across the nation by 2026, with an aim for complete coverage by 2030.
Part of the strategy to accelerate that is ISED’s relatively novel provincial partnership model, wherein it has signed agreements with several provinces to deliver the UBF funds more efficiently and quickly – instead of the applicants going directly to ISED.
Mazier introduced a bill that’s making its way through Parliament that would require telecoms to clearly state what internet speeds customers should expect during peak periods.
