Yesterday, the government of Canada announced an investment of C$10.3 million to bring high-speed internet access to more than a thousand Indigenous households in Hopedale, Makkovik, Nain, Natuashish, Postville and Rigolet in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
This investment, which adds to the C$22 million announced in March 2022 by the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador for the same project, will help ensure its successful completion, the release noted.
“Today’s announcement to invest an additional $10.3 million to improve high-speed internet connectivity will mean faster and more reliable internet service for Hopedale, Makkovik, Nain, Natuashish, Postville and Rigolet,” said Yvonne Jones, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources. “Connecting Indigenous communities to high-speed internet is a top priority, and this project with the Nunatsiavut Government helps us achieve our goal and honour our commitment to ensuring Indigenous communities are not left behind.”
This is the second substantial investment towards high-speed internet that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has obtained this year. In February, a joint provincial-federal investment of up to C$94 million was announced to provide high speed internet access to 36,000 homes and 350 rural, remote, and Indigenous communities across the province.
These investments are made possible thanks to the C$3.225 billion Universal Broadband Fund that is tasked to bring internet at speeds of 50/10 Megabits per second (Mbps) to rural and remote communities across Canada.
Closing the connectivity gap in Newfoundland and Labrador, the government says, builds on its commitment toward ensuring that 98 per cent of Canadians have access to high-speed internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030.