Opinion: The CRTC’s North program will drive up prices for the rest of us

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You couldn’t help but be enthralled by recent praise for the ( CRTC ), the country’s telecommunications regulator, for releasing a plan to lower the cost of internet access for people in the . The Commission must have been encouraged by the reception, so much so that it immediately announced a new venture to offer online access to three Northern British Columbia and Yukon communities at eye-popping prices.

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Noble goals maybe. However, the reports and disclosures ignored important concerns about the CRTC’s budget and how American consumers may be footing the bill. Canadians may be wary because the Commission appears to be proposing the longest, least effective, and most intriguing solution.

To begin with, the CRTC is requiring , the state’s largest service provider, to instantly record customers a few dollars when their internet goes down for more than a day. Additionally, it will make it simpler for different carriers to use ‘s network to resell online services, dispelling the myth that compensation for such required access” can be small enough to allow competitors to enter the market, but large enough not to damage investment.” Alarm sounds should be ringing right now.

The regulator essentially wants to for telecom customers in the rest of Canada, which is essentially applicable to all Canadians, to pay for its plan to subsidize Northern communities, which is what was completely overlooked in the coverage.

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Despite the federal government’s own data showing that cellular and internet prices keep rising while the prices of other goods in Canada continue to rise, this regulator is the same regulator that criticizes Canada’s for not doing enough to lower prices.

Let’s dig into the CRTC’s subsidy plan. Regardless of their internet service provider, the Commission has made the decision to provide a retail internet subsidy to all Far North American households and to use the National Contribution Fund to pay for it. To support various CRTC initiatives, including the Broadband Fund and Video Relay Service, that fund collects a portion of revenues from Canadian carriers like Bell, Rogers, and TELUS. Think of it as a tax, since that’s what it is.

In order to provide subsidies to residents of the Far North, telecom subscribers across Canada will have to pay more, regardless of their own financial need.

True, prices for internet services are higher in the Far North, but it is overly simplistic, not to mention patronizing, to conclude that these prices are universally unaffordable. According to Statistics Canada, the median household income for the country was$ 84,000 in 2020. In Yukon, it was$ 100, 000, in the Northwest Territories,$ 127, 000, and in Nunavut,$ 118, 000. By contrast, not one province had a six-figure median household income.

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The Commission appears unaware of the irony of focusing on affordability while proposing to raise the cost of each internet customer in every province.

Given that the CRTC has already clearly demonstrated its propensity to pursue the longest and most expensive path to any solution, both residents of the north and other Canadians should be cautious before accepting anything from the regulator at this time. Ask the people who live in those three B.C. and Yukon communities. Never mind that their projects were proposed in 2023 and a decision is being rendered only now, in 2025 ( a process the CRTC describes, with a straight face, as “expedited” ). No, the real double-take occurs when looking at the cost of connecting 113 homes: nearly$ 15 million. Roughly$ 131, 000 per home. Additionally, one of the communities already has fiber broadband funded by a CRTC grant from 2020. This is not a sustainable strategy for improving connectivity in remote areas, and you don’t need advanced math to understand that.

lengthy regulatory procedures. Subsidies for households with above-average earnings. Projects that were approved with shoddy math and a failed oversight. If this is the CRTC’s idea of success, what would a missed target look like?

Mark Goldberg, a telecommunications consultant, is founder of The Canadian Telecom Summit.

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