The Canadian Radio‑television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the federal regulator that oversees internet, phone and broadcasting services, has ordered major telecom companies to open their fibre‑optic networks to competitors at regulated rates. This decision risks crippling future investment in Canada’s internet infrastructure and leaving Canadians with slower, less reliable service.
What began as a limited policy in Ontario and Quebec in 2023 has now been cemented nationwide, unless federal ministers step in. In practice, it means companies that spend billions laying fibre‑optic cables must let competitors sell internet over those same lines at regulator‑set prices. That may sound like a win for consumers, but it removes much of the incentive for telecoms to invest in building the networks Canadians will need tomorrow.
Industry experts warned this would happen, and the impact is already visible. After the 2024 expansion of mandatory access rules, one of Canada’s largest telecom providers cut more than $1 billion in planned investments, including $700 million earmarked for 2024‑25. That money was supposed to bring high‑quality internet service to more Canadians, particularly in regions where reliable connections are still far from guaranteed.
Between 2019 and 2023, investment in the sector had already fallen by $600 million, adjusted for inflation.
The consequences of this decline are not theoretical. When companies stop investing, the networks Canadians rely on stagnate. Service quality falls, outages become more common, and new technologies arrive more slowly, if at all.
For families, that could mean unreliable connections for work and school, slower streaming, and delays in accessing online health‑care tools. For businesses, especially small and medium‑sized ones, it could mean being left behind as competitors in other countries adopt faster, more reliable digital tools.
The policy makes little sense. Why spend billions building new infrastructure if competitors can use it without sharing the risk? That’s the classic free‑rider problem—some reap the benefits while others foot the bill. The CRTC has now enshrined that problem in law.
Worse still, even the biggest players are acting like free riders. Instead of investing in their own networks, some are using infrastructure built by smaller companies, paying regulator‑set rates that don’t cover the true costs. This leaves the smaller companies that actually built the networks without the resources they need to expand or upgrade them.
The Quebec government, in a brief submitted to the CRTC, warned that the long‑term effects of this decision could be serious. If companies stop building and upgrading infrastructure, networks risk becoming less efficient, less secure and increasingly unable to meet the needs of the population. In a country as vast as Canada, where reliable internet is crucial for rural and remote communities, that warning should not be taken lightly.
Canada cannot afford to fall behind. Other countries are pushing ahead with large‑scale investments in next‑generation telecom technology. South Korea, Japan and much of Europe are deploying faster and more resilient networks to support digital economies that will dominate the coming decades. If Canadian companies pull back because our regulators have stripped away incentives, Canadians will be left with second‑rate service. Our economy will pay the price.
Telecommunications are now central to daily life. They are the backbone of work, school, health care, entertainment and civic life. Undermining investment in this sector doesn’t just risk slower internet. It threatens Canada’s competitiveness in the global digital economy and weakens the ability of Canadians to thrive in a world that increasingly depends on reliable, high‑speed connectivity.
The federal cabinet still has the power to overturn this short‑sighted decision. If this government is serious about ensuring Canadian families and businesses have the infrastructure they need to succeed, it must act quickly. Every month of delay risks further discouraging investment and further eroding Canada’s place in the digital world.
Canadians deserve better than a regulatory policy that prioritizes short‑term appearances over long‑term prosperity. The CRTC’s decision must be reversed before the damage becomes permanent.
Renaud Brossard is the vice‑president of communications at the Montreal Economic Institute, an independent think‑tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary.
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