Alberta to invest $390M in high speed internet for rural, remote and Indigenous communities

Alberta is more than doubling its investment in rural broadband to $390 million as part of a strategy to make high speed internet available across the province, including in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

Premier Jason Kenney announced the funding Wednesday at the Innisfail Public Library, along with Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish.

The $390 million from the province will come over four years, said Kenney. In late 2021, the province and federal government announced a 50-50 partnership on a $300 million investment in rural broadband. Provincial officials said Wednesday they are seeking a funding partner for the $240 million increase.

Around 489,000 Albertans living in 201,000 households lack access to federal target speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads, according to the province.  

And about 80 per cent of Indigenous communities and 67 per cent of rural and remote communities do not have access to reliable, high-speed internet.

Along with making the digital world more accessible to rural Albertans, the investment will also mean an economic boost for the whole province, said Kenney.

"Improving access to high-speed broadband will help the province move forward toward a technology and innovation-focused future where every Albertan can participate in and benefit from Alberta’s recovery and economic diversification," he said.

"It’s the next step for Alberta.”

The province touted a number of benefits it expects to come from achieving universal connectivity and adoption of services, including:

• Annual GDP will rise between $500 million and $1.7 billion;
• The agricultural sector’s GDP will grow up to five per cent;
• Resulting from adoption of AgTech up to 2,000 long-term service industry jobs may be created;
• In rural communities up to 40,000 Albertans without access to a primary health-care provider may have improved access to telehealth, and the cost to deliver those services will be reduced, and;
• More than 120,000 students will have improved access to remote education.

Glubish said investment in Indigenous communities would be part of the initial stages of the plan.