Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on November 9th, the government’s intention to invest 1.75 billion dollars into rural infrastructure for highspeed internet. The program is expected to run until 2030 with the end goal being to provide internet services to all of Canada. The first goal will be to connect 98% of Canadians to the internet by 2026.
The new funding was initially estimated to be one billion dollars, with the additional 750 million dollars being raised from several agencies, including the Canadian Infrastructure Bank. Internet Inequality has become an important topic of conversation during the COVID-19 pandemic as those who are able to access the internet are not only able to socialize more effectively, avail themselves of work from home opportunities, and can also get more accurate and timely public health services and information.
The creation of the large rural broadband networks is expected to create a high volume of jobs to help boost the Canadian economy as the COVID-19 pandemic is slowly resolved over the coming months and years.
In addition to the broadband network lines, Prime Minister Trudeau has also greenlit a satellite internet program to improve cell services within underserved areas in Northern Canada with the help of low orbit satellites.