441-01181 (Media and telecommunications)

The Government of Canada thanks the petitioners for sharing their views on the importance of high-speed Internet connectivity. Now more than ever, Canadians are relying on telecommunications services for work, school, finances, health care and staying connected with friends and family.

As telecommunications services have become more essential, consumers are demanding accurate, transparent and standardized information about the quality of the telecommunications services they purchase.  The Government of Canada supports a competitive marketplace where consumers are treated fairly and supports efforts to provide Canadians with transparent and accurate information about their telecommunications services. That is why the Government of Canada has launched several initiatives that support this objective and provide important information about broadband performance to Canadians.

For example, in 2016, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) launched a voluntary program called Measuring Broadband Canada to conduct broadband performance testing. The testing was carried out by SamKnows, a global leader in broadband performance measurement that has provided similar testing studies for countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States.  The approach in Canada was that SamKnows deployed testing equipment to a sample of households across the country. The equipment tested various aspects of the household’s connectivity including download and upload speeds, the impact of peak times, latency, packet loss and webpage loading times for the Internet service plans with the highest subscription rates, therefore representing a majority of Canadian fixed-line broadband users.  In 2019, the CRTC undertook a second phase of SamKnows broadband performance measurement using the same approach. The CRTC published the test results for both studies, which concluded that the major participating service providers were delivering average download speeds that met or exceeded the maximum advertised speeds.

However, there is a strong rationale for additional testing, as the first two phases of the SamKnows studies focused on the larger providers in Canada and on the common wireline technologies, like fibre to the home, which are found mostly in urban areas.  While these tests provided important information on the experience of the majority of broadband subscribers, they did not include fixed wireless technology that is commonly used for home Internet in rural and remote areas. Fixed wireless and satellite technologies are a promising and important part of the Government of Canada’s plans of connecting 100% of Canadians to high-speed internet. 

That is why, with support from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), the CRTC recently launched Phase 3 of Measuring Broadband Canada. This phase will specifically assess the performance of Internet service plans using fixed wireless access technology that advertise as providing ‘up to’ 50/10 Megabits per second download and upload speeds.  The CRTC is currently seeking volunteers to participate in testing and ISED will closely monitor this important project.

Meanwhile, the Government of Canada has taken action to require the regular testing of broadband performance as part of a broader proposal to increase competition and consumer rights in the telecommunications market. On February 13, 2023, the government issued a new policy direction to the CRTC on a renewed approach to telecommunications policy. The policy direction is legally binding and requires the CRTC to regulate in a manner consistent with the government’s priorities in telecommunications. The policy direction instructs the CRTC to, among other things, regularly collect, report publicly and make broadband performance information available to consumers. Further, it requires that service providers regularly participate in testing the performance of the broadband Internet services they offer. The policy direction also explicitly instructs the CRTC to include broadband Internet services based on commonly used technologies in rural areas in these tests. The policy direction also has other related requirements. For example, it requires that the CRTC develop and implement a standardized and robust approach for reporting mobile wireless coverage, and it requires the CRTC to take measures to promote clarity and transparency of pricing information and service plan characteristics in service providers’ marketing materials so that consumers can better understand their choices in the Internet market.

Further, currently Canadians who are not receiving the internet performance that they are paying for can contact the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS) for assistance in resolving the issue. The CCTS is an independent organization that provides consumers with recourse and neutral dispute resolution services when they are unable to resolve disagreements directly with their telecommunications service provider. Complaints about quality of service are already part of the mandate of the CCTS. The Policy Direction also contains measures to strengthen the CCTS by increasing its operational capacity, improving compliance with its rules, and increasing public awareness of its complaint-resolution process to ensure that Canadians know where to turn if they are being treated unfairly by a provider.

The Government of Canada supports Bill C-288 as it reinforces the actions underway to improve broadband performance transparency for Canadians. The proposed amendments to the Telecommunications Act would require carriers, or the service providers that own and operate telecommunications networks, to make publicly available service quality metrics regarding the internet services they provide. Additionally, the bill requires the CRTC to hold public hearings to determine other requirements and implementation details based on consultations.

The Government of Canada is committed to protecting consumer rights and ensuring they have the information they need to make informed decisions about their purchases of telecommunications services.