Industry Minister Mélanie Joly on Wednesday launched Canada’s first Telecom Competition Roadmap, a plan with 18 actions for 2026 and 2027 that Ottawa says will bring more choice, cheaper phone and internet service and better networks to Canadians.
Joly wants to break down the regional barriers that keep smaller providers in their home markets so they can compete with Rogers, Bell and Telus from coast to coast, building on the August 2025 decision that required the big carriers to open their fibre lines to rivals.
“As the global economy rapidly evolves, Canadians are increasingly relying on telecommunications services in their everyday lives,” Joly said.
“By improving competition, empowering consumers and supporting the expansion of networks and services, this roadmap truly puts Canadians first, through actions that will improve choice, transparency, prices and networks.”
Some of the work is already done, as the CRTC set final wholesale rates for most fibre-to-the-home connections in April. Smaller providers still say some of those rates are too high to undercut retail plans, which is why independent ISPs asked the regulator to fix wholesale fibre pricing over the summer.
For wireless, the roadmap relies on rules that let smaller brands, known as mobile virtual network operators or MVNOs, rent capacity on the big networks. Ottawa says the rates they pay for access have fallen about 75 per cent in recent years, and the CRTC plans to publish profitability benchmarks for rate talks.
After changes to the Telecommunications Act took effect in late 2025, the CRTC barred extra fees to activate, change or cancel a plan as of June 12. One government estimate puts the savings at about $100 million a year. Related moves also made it easier to leave wireless home internet and forced clearer internet plan advertising, including busy-hour speeds instead of only “up to” claims.
Next up, ISED will roll out a “dig once” approach so fibre can go in alongside major road, rail and energy projects. Tower siting rules are under review, including a proposal to cut the municipal concurrence window from 120 days to 45 and move paperwork online.
The government also plans to release millimetre-wave airwaves over the next three years and says that could multiply the spectrum available for wireless services five-fold. That follows May’s decision to cap how much of the fastest 5G spectrum Rogers, Bell and Telus can buy.
Ottawa wants the CRTC to merge its Wireless Code and Internet Code into one clearer consumer code, spotlight the lowest-cost plans, and raise awareness of the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services. Internet plan transparency rules are set for March 2027.
Telus has already pushed back on parts of that merger. The CRTC’s draft folds the Wireless Code, Internet Code and TV code into one set of rules, and in a filing this summer Telus asked the regulator to make the new code the only consumer rules that count, overriding provincial laws in places like British Columbia and Quebec. It also wants trial periods kept at 15 days instead of the 30 days in the draft, along with the right to claw back gift cards and free TVs when a customer cancels early.
The same filing asks the CRTC to limit 60-day change notices and usage alerts to home internet, to allow phone financing over four years, and to take the CCTS off the job of enforcing the code, since Telus argues the complaints watchdog has no legal authority to do it. That puts Telus at odds with a roadmap that wants more Canadians to know the CCTS exists.
Wireless prices are down 49 per cent compared with 2019, according to the government. A 60 gigabyte plan that averaged $105 in 2022 now often sells for $40 to $50. Many customers still pay more than today’s best offers, with average revenue per user at the large cellular companies around $56 a month.
Progress will be tracked through prices, switching behaviour, speeds, coverage and complaints. If results fall short, Ottawa says it is ready to revise its policy direction to the CRTC.
Will any of this change what you pay for phone or internet service in the next year?
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