Feds, B.C. spend $236 million to expand broadband access on West Coast

Federal officials introduced the latest investment in a recent string of high-speed internet announcements in Canada’s westernmost province on Friday. Buckley Belanger, Liberal secretary of state for rural development, visited Prince George, B.C., to announce $236 million in joint funding with the province to support eight projects expected to bring broadband access to more than 13,000 rural and remote households across the Pacific coast. Ottawa is expected to contribute $149 million, while NDP Premier David Eby’s government will kick in $87 million under a federal-provincial partnership inked in 2022. Belanger (Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, Sask.) also announced an additional $7.8 million investment under the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF), which will bring high-speed internet to another 1,043 homes, including 80 Indigenous households. The projects will be delivered by private carriers, including Telus Corp. and CityWest Cable & Telephone Corp. The federal government has promised to connect every Canadian household to high-speed internet, defined as 50/10 megabits per second, by 2030. Currently, approximately 98 per cent of the country has internet access, and the federal government has said it’s “on track” to reach its target by the end of the decade. According to government data, 96.5 per cent of B.C. households currently enjoy high-speed internet access. “Today’s announcement in partnership with the Government of British Columbia is a tremendous milestone toward meeting that goal and ensuring that underserved communities across the province can get access to reliable and affordable high-speed Internet,” read a statement from Belanger, who was joined by B.C. Citizens’ Services Minister Diana Gibson. As first reported by The Wire Report, the Liberals are expected to wind down the multi-billion dollar UBF as the country closes in on its objective. An industry source has said the government will gradually halt support for new fibre-based projects, instead focusing on expanding access to low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology in the country’s most remote regions. Belanger’s office told The Wire Report that additional UBF announcements are still expected in the “coming weeks and months.” news@thewirereport.ca

Feds, B.C. spend $236 million to expand broadband access on West Coast

Telecom |
By Wire Report Staff
|May 29, 2026

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Feds, B.C. spend $236 million to expand broadband access on West Coast

Telecom | By Wire Report Staff |May 29, 2026

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By Wire Report Staff
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