(Visual: Naomi Wildeboer/Hill Times Publishing)
Cogeco, Eastlink further their challenge of cabinet refusal to overrule CRTC wholesale decision
Regulatory | |September 3, 2025
As Cogeco Communications Inc. and Bragg Communications Inc. (Eastlink) continue to challenge the CRTC’s decision to grant Canada’s largest telecom companies wholesale access to fibre networks outside of their home territories, the two companies are taking it a step further to question the federal government’s decision not to intervene.
Cogeco and Eastlink filed an application with the Federal Court on Sept. 2 seeking judicial review of cabinet’s decision, urging the court to declare the move unreasonable and force the government to reconsider. The applicants allege cabinet failed to justify its decision not to step in and change the CRTC’s policy, despite warnings from petitioners that their businesses face “existential threats.”
“Instead of explaining and justifying its decision to sit on the sidelines, the GIC (Governor in Council) had [Industry Minister Mélanie Joly] send out a five-paragraph press release,” the companies write.
“In this laconic decision, the GIC fundamentally misapprehended the matter submitted to it; failed to grapple at all — let alone meaningfully — with key submissions; and failed to acknowledge — still less explain and justify — a startling policy U-turn.”
When the CRTC issued its original decision, the regulator decided to allow incumbent telcos to access wholesale services outside of their traditional serving territories because it gives them the potential to act as a “new competitor” and disrupt the market.
Cogeco and Eastlink argue that the GIC’s decision was based on a “tunnel-visioned assumption” that the policy would immediately reduce prices, failing to consider the risks posed to smaller and regional [internet service providers] by allowing the Big Three (BCE Inc., Telus Corp., and Rogers Communications Inc.) to access wholesale services. They contend that the GIC’s actions will stifle competition and impede investment in networks, ultimately harming consumers.
Cogeco proposes sweeping reforms
Beyond the court challenge, Cogeco also submitted a series of recommendations to Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne on Aug. 27 during the government’s pre-budget consultations, which concluded Wednesday. The company is calling for urgent reform of the CRTC and its approach to regulating Canadian media and communications.
Cogeco asserts in its submission that the sectors are “plagued by a CRTC that stubbornly clings to an antiquated mindset rooted in a bygone era,” leading to “nonsensical regulation divorced from present-day realities, harming Canadians and Canada.”
“The CRTC is also consciously pushing for the re-monopolization of Canadian telecom by the Big Three …, killing the promise of real choice and affordability that regional competitors have proven to bring. At the same time, the CRTC is discouraging the critical network investments that Canada desperately needs to succeed economically,” Cogeco alleged.
The company’s five-pillar plan targets both regulatory and fiscal policy changes. It demands the CRTC immediately block the Big Three from accessing the wholesale regime; calls on the government to help regional competitors survive an “increasingly hostile regulatory environment”; seeks to close a “tax loophole” it says allows Canadian firms to claim tax deductions on foreign digital advertising; asks that at least 70 per cent of government ad spending be directed to Canadian-owned media; seeks extension of the Canadian journalism labour tax credit to private radio broadcasters; and the implementation of a new 20 per cent tax credit for businesses advertising with Canadian-owned media.
