Broadband Fund gets $750M top up; Telesat tagged to bring service to remote areas

The Government of Canada added $750 million to the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) for a total investment of $1.75 billion. The federal program aims to connect 98% of Canadians to high-speed Internet by 2026, with all homes and businesses connected by 2030.

The new funding supports a new $150 million Rapid Response Stream with an accelerated application process to allow shovel-ready projects to begin right away, with service to Canadians required by November 15, 2021.

The Prime Minister also announced November 9 that Telesat will receive $600 million from the UBF to improve connectivity and expand high-speed Internet coverage to the far north, rural, and remote regions across Canada, through an agreement to secure capacity on Telesat’s low-earth-orbit satellite constellation. It represents the largest one-time federal investment ever made in broadband in Canada.

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