‘Historic Agreement’ to Bring High-Speed Internet to 280,000 Rural Ontarians

The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario have today announced what it calls an ‘historic agreement’ to bring high-speed internet to nearly 280,000 rural Ontario households in hundreds of communities across the province.

Ontario

Under this agreement, the two governments will partner on large-scale, fibre-based projects that will provide high-speed Internet access to all corners of the province by 2025. This historic agreement is being made possible by an equal federal-provincial investment totalling more than $1.2 billion.

Moreover, the Canada Infrastructure Bank is assessing opportunities proposed through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) to provide additional financing on a project-by-project basis toward significant expansion of this partnership.

“Access to high-speed Internet will create jobs, improve health and safety for all, and help bridge the rural-urban divide. The pandemic added urgency to this work, and the Government of Canada responded with the Universal Broadband Fund. Our government’s investments to date have helped connect 175,000 households to high–speed internet. By this Christmas, 435,000 households that didn’t have high-speed internet last Christmas will be connected.” – The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality

This investment represents a concrete step forward that will move Ontario almost 40% of the way in its ambitious plan to achieve 100% connectivity for all regions in the province by the end of 2025.

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