The federal government on Tuesday said it will take “a comprehensive, national approach to telecom competition and drive meaningful outcomes for Canadian consumers” by implementing a “Telecommunications Competition Roadmap” to improve internet and mobile service affordability.
Included in its spring economic update, the roadmap outlines actions to improve consumer choice, prices, networks and transparency, the federal government said.
Parts of the roadmap are already underway, it said. In August 2025, the federal government upheld the CRTC’s decision on mandatory wholesale internet access, requiring large telcos to give access to their fibre-to-the-home networks to competitors. The final rates for competitor access were set last week.
In addition, recent amendments to the Telecommunications Act require transparency on contracts and make it easier for Canadians to renew or switch between home internet, home phone and mobile phone plans, and take advantage of better pricing, the government said in its economic update.
In March, the CRTC announced it is eliminating extra fees to activate, change or cancel internet and wireless plans. In mid-April, the CRTC mandated notifications for contract expiry, the end of promotions and international roaming fees, effective next year. Last week, the telecom regulator formalized its self-service rules for internet and wireless, ordering telecoms to have self-service mechanisms in place by April 2027 allowing customers to change or cancel plans on their own.
The government’s telecom competition roadmap includes several ongoing and planned actions, including publishing roaming benchmarks, pursuing a “dig once” policy approach to nation-building projects as outlined in Budget 2025, and building on efforts to enable emerging satellite technologies, the government said.
The publication of the roadmap “will allow Canadians to easily see results and keep track of ongoing efforts in the short term,” the government wrote in its economic update, adding that further information on the roadmap will be provided in the coming months.
Photo of economic update cover art
