BRIDGENORTH, Ont. — The governments of Canada and Ontario today announced more than $56 million in combined funding for two projects by Bell and one by Cogeco Connexion to bring high-speed Internet access to more than 16,000 homes in rural communities across eastern Ontario.
The announcement was made by Gudie Hutchings, federal minister of rural economic development, and Amarjot Sandhu, parliamentary assistant to Ontario’s minister of infrastructure, at the Selwyn Public Library’s Bridgenorth Branch in the town of Bridgenorth, Ont., near Peterborough.
A government backgrounder outlines more details about the amount of funding each ISP is receiving for their projects and the number of households to be served.
Bell is receiving up to $23.7 million to bring high-speed Internet access to 6,591 homes in Alpine Village, Bancroft, Baptiste, Birds Creek, Bridgenorth, Buckhorn, Burleigh Falls, Curve Lake, Detlor, Fife’s Bay, Fort Stewart, Highland Grove, Lakeview Estates, L’Amable, Maple Leaf, Maynooth, McArthurs Mills, Mississagua Landing, Paudash, Youngs Point and Youngstown. This project is expected to be completed by March 2025.
Bell will receive up to approximately $30.8 million to deliver high-speed Internet to 9,329 homes in Alpine Village, Bobcaygeon, Bolsover, Burnt River, Carnarvon, Coboconk, Eagle Lake, Fort Irwin, Gooderham, Haliburton, Horseshoe Lake, Ingoldsby, Irondale, Kirkfield, Lakeview Estates, Lochlin, Lutterworth, Minden, Moore Falls, Norland, Peterson Corner, Rosedale, Tory Hill, Victoria Place, Victoria Road and West Guilford. This project has an expected completion date of December 2025.
Cogeco Connexion is receiving up to $1.9 million to bring high-speed Internet access to 836 homes in Greenhurst-Thurstonia, Omemee and Pleasant Point, with service expected to be available in March 2024.
The funding for these projects is part of a July 2021 agreement between the federal and Ontario governments to invest $1.2 billion to bring high-speed Internet to almost 280,000 rural Ontario households. Money is also coming from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), according to a federal government’s press release.
“The Canada Infrastructure Bank is committed to expanding broadband service in rural Ontario,” said Ehren Cory, CEO of the CIB, in the release. “Our investment will help finance essential infrastructure for residents, create new economic opportunities and support public services. A tremendous opportunity exists to expand broadband networks by collaborating with Internet service providers, and the CIB is part of the solution to connect more Canadians.”
“Connecting our communities for work, school, social and entertainment needs is a top priority at Cogeco,” said Matt Wickham, vice-president and general manager of customer experience and B2B at Cogeco Connexion. “That’s why we are proud to partner with the governments of Canada and Ontario to bring our world-class high-speed Internet to more residents and businesses in the areas of Greenhurst-Thurstonia, Omemee and Pleasant Point.”
Bruce Furlong, senior vice-president of access engineering and deployment at Bell Canada, said Bell is “proud to partner with the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario to expand our all-fibre broadband network to even more communities across Ontario.
“Through our own fully funded investments and through partnerships like this, Bell continues to deliver on our goal of advancing how Canadians connect with each other and the world,” he added.
Today’s announcement is another step in the federal government’s progress toward ensuring 98% of Canadians have access to high-speed Internet by 2026, and 100% by 2030, the release says.
Ontario’s goal is to achieve 100% high-speed Internet connectivity across the province by the end of 2025.
