TORONTO — The Ontario government announced today it is introducing new legislation to help bring reliable high-speed Internet to underserved and unserved communities in Ontario sooner.
If passed, the proposed legislation, the Getting Ontario Connected Act, 2022, “would remove barriers, duplication and delays, making it easier and faster to build high-speed internet infrastructure across the province,” reads an Ontario government press release.
Ontario is currently investing $900 million in more than 180 broadband, cellular and satellite projects across the province, and the new legislation “would provide the tools and assurances that internet service providers need to get shovels in the ground as early as this summer,” explains the release.
“By taking this leap, our government is helping to accelerate the deployment of high-speed internet, providing people with the digital services they need and deserve,” said Kinga Surma, Ontario minister of infrastructure, in the release. “The Getting Ontario Connected Act, 2022, if passed, would help meet our government’s commitment to connect every community with access to high-speed internet by the end of 2025.”
The new legislation would also improve Ontario One Call’s processes of determining the location of underground infrastructure such as telecommunications lines, water mains and gas pipelines, known as “locates”, according to the press release.
“Instead of everyone using their own locate process, they would be able to have the work done by one person in some situations, reducing duplication. This is expected to significantly reduce waiting periods for internet service providers, strengthen safety for workers, and improve the accuracy of results, leading to accelerated construction of broadband infrastructure across Ontario,” the release says.
“It often takes businesses and builders too long to start construction because of how complicated it is to get information about underground infrastructure,” said Ross Romano, Ontario minister of government and consumer services. “These are costly delays to building critical high-speed internet projects and housing developments that we can’t afford, which is why we’re accelerating how quickly workers can get shovels in the ground.”
The proposed Getting Ontario Connected Act, 2022 builds on the provincial government’s previous commitments to get Ontario connected, including an investment of almost $4 billion to connect every region to high-speed Internet by the end of 2025.
This is the third piece of legislation in the last 12 months the Ontario government has introduced to try to speed up construction of broadband projects. In March 2021, Ontario introduced the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021 and the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021.
For more information about the Getting Ontario Connected Act, 2022, please see the government’s backgrounder here.
