The Cost of Connection
A family spends $150 per month on home internet and mobile data—more than their electricity bill, approaching their grocery budget. A single parent weighs whether to pay for internet or school supplies. A senior on fixed income cancels internet service to afford medications. In Canada, the cost of connection is a barrier that policy and market have not solved.
Canada's Affordability Problem
International comparisons consistently rank Canada among the most expensive countries for telecommunications services. Home broadband, mobile data, and bundled services cost significantly more in Canada than in comparable countries.
The CRTC's affordability metrics show that low-income households spend a higher proportion of income on telecommunications than higher-income households—an affordability burden that limits other spending and forces difficult tradeoffs.
Price differences between urban and rural areas compound the problem. Rural Canadians may pay more for slower, less reliable service.
Why Is Canada Expensive?
Market Structure
Canada's telecommunications market is dominated by a few large companies. Limited competition allows higher prices. New entrants face high infrastructure costs and incumbents with established networks and customer bases.
Foreign ownership restrictions have limited international competition. Spectrum auctions have favored large incumbents. The competitive dynamics that drive prices down in other countries have not operated as effectively in Canada.
Geography
Canada's size and low population density make infrastructure expensive to deploy. Serving rural and remote areas costs more per subscriber than serving dense urban areas. These costs factor into overall pricing.
Regulation
CRTC decisions shape market structure. Wholesale access rules determine whether smaller providers can compete using incumbent infrastructure. Spectrum policy affects who can offer wireless services. These regulatory choices influence pricing outcomes.
Affordability Programs
Connecting Families
The Connecting Families initiative offers discounted internet service ($20/month) to families receiving the maximum Canada Child Benefit. Participating ISPs provide basic broadband at reduced rates.
Limitations include eligibility restrictions, limited awareness, enrollment complexity, and service levels that may not meet all household needs.
Low-Cost Internet Plans
Some providers offer low-cost plans for seniors, people with disabilities, or low-income households. Availability, eligibility, and service levels vary by provider and region.
Device Programs
Affordability includes devices, not just service. Programs providing devices to low-income households—Computers for Schools, library lending, nonprofit distributions—address part of the cost barrier.
Consequences of Unaffordability
When internet is unaffordable, people go without or make tradeoffs that affect their wellbeing:
Educational disadvantage: Children without home internet fall behind peers with access.
Employment barriers: Job searching, applications, and remote work require connectivity.
Service access: Government services, banking, and healthcare increasingly assume internet access.
Social isolation: Connection to family, friends, and community increasingly happens online.
Unaffordability is not just inconvenience—it is exclusion from essential participation.
Policy Options
Subsidies: Direct subsidies to low-income households reduce out-of-pocket costs. Programs like the US Affordable Connectivity Program (now ended) provided monthly discounts.
Price regulation: Utility-style price regulation could control costs, though it may reduce investment incentives.
Competition: Policies promoting competition—easier market entry, wholesale access requirements, spectrum allocation favoring new entrants—could reduce prices through market mechanisms.
Public provision: Municipal networks or public options could provide competitive alternatives.
Universal service funds: Requiring providers to contribute to funds supporting service in high-cost areas spreads infrastructure costs.
The Question
If internet access is necessary for full participation in society, then affordability is not a market outcome to accept but a policy choice to make. How should Canada address the cost barrier to connectivity? Should affordability be achieved through subsidies, regulation, competition, or public provision? And what level of service—at what price—should be considered the floor below which no Canadian should fall?