On November 26, 2020, CRTC officials appeared before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Canadians were locked down, depending on home internet for work, school, and essential services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials defended their record on broadband affordability.

Five years earlier, in 2015, the Commission had ordered disaggregated wholesale high-speed access services for Bell Canada, Cogeco, Rogers, and Vidéotron. The regime promised competitors direct connections at central offices, including fibre-to-the-premises facilities, to control costs and packages. Interim rates took effect in 2017.

Yet appeals, petitions, stays, and consultations had stalled full rollout. No competitor had implemented the disaggregated regime. Aggregated rates remained frozen at interim levels.

In rural Canada, only 45 percent of households met the 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload target in 2019. The CRTC’s $750 million Broadband Fund had just approved its first projects weeks earlier, reaching over 10,100 households in northern communities with urban-comparable rates.

The officials described an ongoing national transition. Five years after the 2015 shift, true competition and lower prices remained unrealized. For families still waiting on affordable, reliable internet today, this parliamentary moment shows exactly where the battle stands.