VANCOUVER – Nearly two years after the CRTC decreed broadband a basic telecom service for all Canadians, a collection of federal, provincial, and territorial ministers have agreed to the principles of a Canadian broadband strategy.
In a statement Friday after meetings in Vancouver, the Ministers pledged to work towards universal access to high-speed Internet and to improve access to the latest mobile wireless services along Canada’s major roads.
Guided by the connectivity principles of access, collaboration, and effective investments, the Ministers issued a joint statement calling universal access to high-speed Internet and mobile wireless networks “essential for long-term economic growth, innovation, and social progress for all Canadians across the country, and fundamental to success in the modern digital world.”
They also pledged to work with private sector partners, municipalities, public institutions, Indigenous communities, and non-profit organizations to enhance connectivity and break through the digital divide.
"Access to reliable and quality high-speed Internet is no longer a luxury”, said Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains, in a statement. “As a country, we have made incredible advances, building mobile networks that are among the fastest in the world and bringing broadband Internet to rural and remote communities across Canada. Yet there is more to do. The commitment to a strategy we made today reflects the ambition we all share to get all Canadians online and participating in the digital economy."
Photo borrowed from Minister Bains’ Twitter account
