By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The rapid build stream of the $3.225-billion Universal Broadband Fund, which was supposed to have projects completed by November 2021, has yet to allocate all the money to project proponents, according to government data as of January 30.
When the federal government announced the initial iteration of the $1.75-billion program in November 2020 to connect over 900,000 households to high-speed internet, it allocated $150 million to projects that could be completed by November 2021.
But according to government data released in response to questions from Conservative member of Parliament Dan Mazier, UBF administrator Innovation Canada has disbursed just $118 million out of the announced $193 million from the “rapid response stream.” The data show it has disbursed nothing from the larger pot of money, which are for larger projects that take more time to plan, design and build.
“The majority of projects under the Rapid Response Stream (RRS), which funded shovel-ready projects to help connect Canadians quickly, are offering service as of fall 2022,” the government said in a response to the MP’s questions.
“Most core UBF projects are in the planning and/or design stage as they are larger in scale,” the response added of the larger pot. According to the provided data, there have been 47 announced core UBF projects, the vast majority of which are in Ontario (36).
The government has pointed to pandemic-related supply chain and weather-related problems that projects faced when it said the projects were facing hardships and delays, but that was in December 2021.
In a year-end update in December 2022, the government said its rapid stream was offering service to 83,000 households.
The government delivers money to project proponents on a reimbursement basis. That means, when a project achieves milestones, the proponent will submit expense claims and will get the money for the project work to that point. In other words, money is not handed out at project announcement, so there’s a lag.
The UBF is also a relatively unique program in that the federal government decided to partner directly with the provinces – instead of just directly with the providers – to maximize funding opportunities. ISED is still negotiating contribution amounts with some provinces.
Despite the lag, the government response said it is still on track to meet its connectivity goals, which include reaching 100% of the country with internet speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.
Today, 93.5% of Canadians have access to high-speed internet “or are targeted to receive access through program commitments,” the response said.
