Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault have announced plans to deliver high speed internet to 150,000 households in the province by September of next year–at a cost of $826.3 million.
The new funding–which will be split by the federal and provincial governments–will be used to subsidize telecommunications companies, which will be required to connect all households in specific regions to high-speed internet and charge those residents the same rates Quebecers pay in big cities.
When the work is completed, it’s expected that only 36,000 households in the province will not have high speed access.
In 2019, Quebec had a population of just under 8.5 million people.
“It is a historic agreement and a historic announcement, Legault told a joint press conference in the city of Trois Rivieres on Monday.
“The internet is not a luxury. It’s like electricity was 60 years ago.”
Quebec Premier François Legault (foreground) and Justin Trudeau are pictured at a press conference yesterday in the city of Trois-Rivieres, announcing their plan for high speed internet for Quebec regions. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot)
Last November, Trudeau promised to connect 98 per cent of Canadians to high speed internet by 2026 and to have everyone connected by 2030.
The 150,000 Quebec households to be added are on top of 66,000 households previously announced by the two governments.
Currently, an estimated 250,000 Quebec households don’t have access to high speed internet–leaving about 36,000 households in remote areas without high speed access.
Legault said that while the 36,000 households are not part of the agreement, he hopes they will be connected by Sept. 2022.
The Canadian Press reports that Montreal-based Videotron and Cogeco will each receive more than $200 million in subsidies and will be expected to connect more than 35,000 households each to high-speed internet.
Bell will receive $161.5 million and will be expected to connect nearly 31,000 households. Other large participants include Xplornet, Sogetel and Telus.
Asked about the decision to give hundreds of millions of dollars to already profitable telecom companies, Legault said the government is compensating them for the higher cost of connecting homes in less densely populated rural regions.
“It’s normal,” he said. “We can’t force a business to offer a service at a loss.”
It was the second straight week that Trudeau and Legault held a joint press conference to make an economic announcement.
Last week, they announced a $100-million subsidy for an electric battery vehicle plant in St-Jérôme.
The announcements come amidst talk about the possibility of federal election as early as this spring.
As well, Legault can now say he fulfilled a key election promise, to connect all Quebec households by September 2022.
The next provincial election is Oct. 3, 2022.
With files from The Canadian Press (Jacob Serebrin), CBC News
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