Issue
Affordable Internet & Digital Equity
Federal telecom policy operates under the Telecommunications Act and the Radiocommunication Act, administered by the CRTC. The Universal Broadband Fund (announced 2019, $3.225 billion through 2027) aims for 98% of Canadian households to have access to 50/10 Mbps service by 2026 and 100% by 2030. CRTC's 2019 Wireless Code Decision set the federal mobile-data and roaming-rule framework. Active 2024-2025 files: Bill S-242 (spectrum use-it-or-lose-it for rural and remote Canada), Bill C-288 of 44-1 (broadband transparency, royal assent November 7, 2024), the CRTC's 2024 hybrid wholesale-resale decisions on internet competition, the 2024 federal Rural Connectivity Strategy update, and the federal Indigenous Connectivity Strategy. Cost-of-mobile-data in Canada remains among the highest in OECD countries by the federal government's own Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada price comparisons.
Where parties stand
Compare side-by-side- Bloc QuébécoisBLOC
The Bloc Québécois calls for full federal-provincial coordination on rural-broadband deployment in Quebec's regions (Nord-du-Québec, Gaspésie, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean still have approximately 12 percent of households without 50/10 Mbps service per CRTC 2024 data), supports the federal Universal Broadband Fund with Quebec administrative control over Quebec-targeted disbursements, and opposes the Liberal-Conservative consensus on regulating wireless prices through the CRTC's mobile-virtual-network-operator (MVNO) framework as insufficiently aggressive on the Big Three carriers (Bell, Rogers, Telus).
Source - Conservative Party of CanadaCONSERVATIVE
The federal Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre supports market-based competition over CRTC price regulation, advocates for expanded MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) access through market-led rather than regulated mechanisms, opposes the Liberal-NDP framing of the Big Three wireless carriers (Bell, Rogers, Telus) as oligopolistic, supports continued federal Universal Broadband Fund delivery toward 50/10 Mbps universal service by 2030 (the target announced in 2020 by the Trudeau government), and pushed for streamlined CRTC regulatory processes to enable faster network buildout. Critical of the Online News Act (Bill C-18, S.C. 2023, c. 23) for triggering Meta's block of Canadian news.
Source The federal Green Party calls for federal regulation of wireless and home-internet pricing at the CRTC level with a binding affordability test (Canadian wireless prices average roughly 1.6 times the OECD average per the federal Open Banking Data Lab benchmark), full $3-billion Universal Broadband Fund delivery accelerated to 2027 from the current 2030 target, mandatory MVNO access at regulated rates (current CRTC framework is partial), federal financial-assistance program for low-income households' internet bills (Canada Affordable Connectivity Plan to match the US discontinued ACP), and a Right to Internet codified in the Telecommunications Act.
Source- Liberal Party of CanadaLIBERAL
The federal Liberal Party under Mark Carney committed $3.225 billion to the Universal Broadband Fund (target: 98 percent of Canadian households with 50/10 Mbps service by 2026, 100 percent by 2030), $750 million for the rural-and-remote Connect to Innovate program (under Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada), supports the federal Wireless Affordability program through the Connecting Families Initiative (providing affordable internet packages to low-income families), pushed for mandatory MVNO access at regulated rates under expanded CRTC authority, and has called for transparent pricing under the federal Wireless Code of Conduct.
Source The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh has called for a federal cap on wireless prices (Canadian wireless prices average roughly 1.6 times the OECD average), full Universal Broadband Fund acceleration to deliver 50/10 Mbps service to all of rural Canada by 2027 from the current 2030 target, mandatory MVNO access at regulated rates under expanded CRTC authority, federal financial-assistance for low-income internet bills, and a federal Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights codifying net-neutrality, transparent pricing, and contract-termination protections.
Source
Bills affecting this issue
- C-8Federal45-1Third reading
An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts
Cyber security standards on federally regulated telecoms also affect rural and remote broadband deployment commitments.
- C-268Federal45-1Second reading
An Act respecting the Spectrum Policy Framework for Canada
Spectrum Policy Framework for Canada.
- C-288Federal44-1Royal assent
An Act to amend the Telecommunications Act (transparent and accurate broadband services information)
Requires telcos to publish standardized accurate broadband performance information so consumers can compare plans.
- S-242Federal44-1Second reading
An Act to amend the Radiocommunication Act
'Use it or lose it' rules for telecom spectrum licences. Targets unused spectrum hoarding that delays rural broadband.