Feds, B.C. to Invest $2.6 Million to Expand High Speed Internet

Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Lisa Beare, British Columbia’s Minister of Citizens’ Services, have announced a joint federal and provincial funding of over $2.6 million to expand high speed internet in B.C.

This funding aims to extend high-speed Internet access to more than 400 households in rural communities in the province. “This funding is part of an existing agreement between the governments of Canada and British Columbia,” stated Hutchings on Tuesday in a statement.

The funding will be distributed as follows:

• $442,460 for the Trout Lake BC Internet Society to provide Internet access in communities including Beaton, Galena, Galena Bay, and others.
• $2,228,157 for the Village of Granisle to provide high-speed Internet in the community of Granisle.

This announcement follows a historic partnership from March 2022, where both governments pledged to invest up to $830 million to connect rural, remote, and Indigenous communities throughout British Columbia to high-speed Internet.

The initiative is in line with the Government of Canada’s goal to ensure that 98% of Canadians have access to high-speed Internet by 2026 and 100% by 2030.

Earlier this month, both the feds and the B.C. government announced a $58 million investment to also expand high-speed internet in the province.