OTTAWA – A pair of announcements from Industry Canada on Wednesday will see over $1.5 million more flow into developing broadband access in Aboriginal and rural communities.
Up to $973 592 in program savings from Industry Canada’s Broadband for Rural and Northern Development Pilot Program has been made available to the Matawa First Nations Management organization to deploy broadband, or high-capacity Internet, to local communities that are currently not served by broadband. This project represents an estimated eight communities, as defined by the participant and originally submitted in the project’s business proposal.
The Broadband Pilot Program’s implementation funding was made available to 58 successful recipients based on their initial estimated project costs, and funding was subject to successful negotiations among all parties. During these negotiations some recipients were able to identify savings in areas such as equipment and service costs. In some cases, recipients were able to secure additional funding partners, thereby reducing the amount of funding required from the Broadband Pilot Program. This resulted in additional funds becoming available to be invested toward four broadband implementation projects, which includes the Matawa First Nations Management.
"Broadband puts more resources within reach of First Nations communities," said Joe Comuzzi, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North. "Apart from greater access to online learning and telehealth services, broadband access will help people in these communities to communicate with each other, and with the rest of the world, more easily."
The other announcement was that $591 677 in program savings is available to be invested toward the Community Futures Development Corporation of Boundary Area in Grand Forks, B.C. to deploy broadband to an estimated 23 communities
"The Government of Canada is committed to making broadband access available to communities across Canada," said Industry Minister David Emerson. "Broadband will help these communities build a 21st-century economy by innovating and creating new jobs in every economic sector, by providing opportunities for skills development and life-long learning, and by achieving sustainable development."
To date, the Broadband Pilot Program has reached out to 884 communities, including 116 First Nations Reserves. The Broadband Pilot Program complements the $155-million National Satellite Initiative.
