As the government of Canada progresses toward its goal of ensuring all Canadians have access to high-speed internet by 2030 and improving mobile services across the country, the federal government has announced funding details for high-speed internet projects in Alberta and a mobile connectivity project in Manitoba.
For Alberta, the federal and provincial governments announced Tuesday more than $112 million in combined funding for 14 projects to bring high-speed internet access to more than 22,500 households in 166 rural and remote communities across Alberta, including more than 3,400 Indigenous households.
The recipients of the funding for the Alberta projects are Advanced Interactive Canada Inc. (Advintive), ATG Arrow Technology Group Limited Partnership, Bragg Communications, Canadian Fiber Optics Corp., Eastern Irrigation District, G.P.N. Wireless Network Solutions, Iwantwireless.ca Ltd., Lemalu Holdings Ltd. (MCSnet), Red Deer County, Siksika Nation, Slave Lake Communications Ltd., and Yellowhead County.
Two of the projects are being funded solely by the federal government, while the remaining 12 projects are being co-funded by the governments of Canada and Alberta.
The funding is part of an existing agreement between Canada and Alberta, announced in March 2022, to invest up to $780 million to provide high-speed internet access to Albertans in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. The federal portion of the funding is coming from the government’s $3.225-billion Universal Broadband Fund (UBF). The two level of governments said they will continue to announce projects selected under this agreement over the coming months.
In addition to building on the federal government’s progress toward ensuring 98 per cent of Canadians have access to high-speed internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030, the announcement also brings the Alberta government closer to achieving its goal of bringing reliable high-speed internet access to every community in the province by the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year, according to a press release.
For Manitoba, the federal government announced Wednesday $7.5 million in UBF funding for Broadband Communications North to bring mobile connectivity to eight Indigenous communities across northern Manitoba, including Barren Lands First Nation, Northlands Denesuline First Nation, Poplar River First Nation, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, Shamattawa First Nation, Sayisi Dene Denesuline Nation, Mosakahiken Cree Nation and Bloodvein First Nation.
“We’re happy with today’s announcement, which will allow Broadband Communications North to continue building capacity in our communities, increasing their communication capabilities and ultimately making life better for them. Our ability to provide cellular and data services for our most remote communities has just expanded and will allow us to move forward in closing the gap in services that a lot of our communities are facing,” Jason Neepin, executive director of Broadband Communications North, said in a statement.
“With recent research indicating people now access the World Wide Web through handheld devices, we have taken a step forward by ensuring eight of the communities we serve are going to have that ability. That and the ability to make phone calls from their handheld units brings us on an equal footing with the rest of the country.”
These announcements follow an announcement Monday by the governments of Canada and British Columbia regarding more than $37 million in combined funding to bring high-speed internet access to more than 7,500 households across B.C.
