Federal government and British Columbia to invest $830 million in rural area network development

The Canadian federal government and British Columbia’s provincial government have announced a partnership to jointly invest up to C$830 million to bring high-speed internet to the remaining rural households in the province.

This new investment, established through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), will provide internet access to 115,000 underserved households in B.C.

Each level of the government will contribute $415 million. B.C.’s portion includes the $289 million network fund announced in the province’s Budget 2022. The share from the federal government will be paid from the C$2.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund.

This investment announcement is another step towards realizing the promises made in Canada’s Connectivity Strategy, in which Canada’s federal government aims to help provide high-speed internet to 98 per cent of Canadians by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030.

“We need to close the connection gap and ensure that every nook and cranny of British Columbia has access to reliable high-speed Internet—from Masset to Keats Island, from Dease Lake to Lillooet, or from Hendrix Lake all the way to Port Alice,” said Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development in a press release. “That’s why today’s Canada-B.C. broadband partnership of up to $830 million toward connecting all remaining rural households in the province is a historic milestone for British Columbians.”

The applications for funding will be reviewed by Innovation, Science, Economic and Development Canada (ISED), considering a number of factors including affordability.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Tom Li
Tom Li
Telecommunication and consumer hardware are Tom's main beats at IT World Canada. He loves to talk about Canada's network infrastructure, semiconductor products, and of course, anything hot and new in the consumer technology space. You'll also occasionally see his name appended to articles on cloud, security, and SaaS-related news. If you're ever up for a lengthy discussion about the nuances of each of the above sectors or have an upcoming product that people will love, feel free to drop him a line at tli@itwc.ca.

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now