Rural internet leaders renew call for action as fight for connectivity drags on

ORILLIA, ONT.—As coverage gaps in rural Canada persist, municipal leaders, industry players, and other stakeholders are teaming up to fight against an unforeseen enemy — idleness. “As I take stock of what’s going on across all of northern Ontario, there’s a wee bit of complacency that seems to have set in,” said Susan Church, executive director of Blue Sky Economic Growth, a development group looking to connect remote communities in Canada’s largest province. “Right now is a really good time to just get all friggin’ fired up again.” On Thursday, Church participated in the marquee panel discussion at the annual conference of Canada’s Rural and Remote Broadband Community (CRRBC), titled “The Connectivity Blackhole,” which discussed the decades-long effort to close the rural-urban digital divide. “Oftentimes, you come to a conference and you listen to folks… complain about the stuff that’s not good,” said Church. “But you don’t always hear about what are the solutions, and I think that’s what we have to start focusing on a little bit more.” “There used to be a time when… delegations were lined up to talk about their lack of broadband, but I just fear now it’s almost like, ‘well, I guess it’s just going to happen sometime…’ and I would really hate to see that be the reason communities are left behind, because they’ve given up.” As of last month, federal data showed 97.4 per cent of Canadian households had access to 50/10 megabits per second internet speeds, which Ottawa defines as the minimum threshold for ‘high-speed.’. However, CRTC statistics suggest only 83 per cent of rural households have high-speed broadband access, including only 77.5 per cent of Ontarians living in remote areas. “My ears ring whenever I hear… the number the federal government uses,” said Church. “In northern Ontario, when you take out the five largest cities — Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay — we have 65 per cent coverage of at least 50/10, and even that’s kind of questionable.” Church also referenced a story from The Wire Report – which revealed the Liberal government is not expected to renew its multi-billion dollar Universal Broadband Fund, which has financed fibre and fixed wireless projects in remote areas – adding that it’s time for municipalities to “step up.” Melanie Pilon, mayor of Wawa, Ont. in northern Ontario, who previously worked for BCE Inc., said while some communities have become complacent, many municipal staffs are restricted by the lack of personnel and resources. “Capacity is another issue,” said Pilon, who moderated the panel discussion. “We have municipal staffs that are already stretched way too thin, so this is something that's… set on the back burner.” “Then there’s the lack of understanding it’s a highly technical space. People are happy to say, ‘we’re just going to post Starlink on our roof…, but that’s not a community-based solution.” For Jason St-Pierre, CEO of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network, municipalities have to prioritize connectivity and designate a community champion to bring the issue to the forefront. Otherwise, he continued, Canada risks entering a “three-tiered world of broadband.” “Then, we’d have fibre for those that are closest to the urban areas, you have wireless for those we couldn’t really afford to get to, and now you have satellite for the rest of you guys,” said St-Pierre. “Does that become a concern or an issue for those who are elected in those small communities?” The CRRBC summit also featured panel discussions focused on dual-use technologies, connectivity in healthcare, and Indigenous sovereignty. Various First Nations, municipal leaders, and service provider representatives were in attendance for the event, which wrapped up on Friday. The rural broadband community will also congregate in Saskatoon, Sask., later this year for the CRRBC’s western Canada conference in November. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

Rural internet leaders renew call for action as fight for connectivity drags on

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By Davis Legree
|June 12, 2026

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