Ottawa announces $73M to bring high-speed internet to rural New Brunswick homes

Person using a smart phone and laptop computer.

The federal government is spending over $73 million to connect over 27,600 New Brunswick homes to high-speed internet.

On Wednesday, officials announced the funding for two projects, one led by Rogers Communications Inc. and another by Xplore, which are set to bring access to over 500 rural and remote communities in the province.

“High-speed Internet is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity, no matter where you live in Canada,” said Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger in a government news release.

The money comes from the Universal Broadband Fund, a federal plan aimed at providing access to reliable high-speed internet to Canadians in rural, remote, underserved and Indigenous communities.

Currently, 96.3 per cent of Canadian households have access to high-speed internet, compared to just 79 per cent in 2014.

In New Brunswick, the amount is 95.6 per cent of households.

The government has set a goal to ensure every Canadian household has access to high-speed internet by 2030.

“Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to achieving that goal and represents a major milestone for connectivity in communities across the province,” said Belanger.

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