A private member’s bill that proposed amending the Telecommunications Act to require internet service providers to provide Canadians with the “typical” download and upload speeds that customers should expect during peak periods received royal assent last week, after passing third reading in the Senate earlier this month.
Bill C-288 was introduced in 2022 by Dan Mazier, Conservative Member of Parliament for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, who wanted the act to be amended so ISPs could not use language such as “up to” and “maximum” to advertise theoretical speeds when marketing their internet packages.
In April 2023, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the federal government supported the bill.
With royal assent, the enactment amends the Telecommunications Act to require Canadian carriers offering fixed broadband services to make easily available to the public certain information regarding those services, including typical download and upload speeds as well as service quality metrics during peak periods.
The bill requires the CRTC to hold public hearings to develop a framework for implementation of the bill.
The consultation process is expected to inform the commission’s determinations on a number of matters, including: the service quality metrics that are to be measured and the manner in which they will be measured; the methodology that is to be used to determine what constitutes typical download and upload speeds for different fixed broadband service packages offered in different regions across Canada; the periods that are to be considered peak periods; the types of Canadian carriers, if any, that should be excluded, in whole or in part, from the application of the amendments to the Act; the types of transmission systems in respect of which the service quality metrics and typical download and upload speed information is to be provided; the form and manner in which this information is to be provided to the public to ensure it is easily available, accessible and simple to understand; and the measures to be taken, including in respect of compliance monitoring and enforcement, to ensure the fixed broadband services provided by Canadian carriers reflect the information made available regarding typical download and upload speeds and service quality metrics during peak periods.
Photo of Dan Mazier, via the MP’s Facebook profile
