High-speed internet at $20 a month for low income seniors, families
Internet access is no longer a luxury, it’s an essential resource. It helps Canadians find jobs, keep in touch with family, sell their goods and services online, and build communities. Yet for many Canadians, a reliable high-speed internet connection is out of reach.
Today, Minister Champagne, Minister Khera, and Minister Hutchings announced phase two of the Connecting Families initiative. Working with internet service providers (ISPs), our government is helping to connect hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors and families to low-cost, high-speed home internet.
Families eligible to receive the maximum Canada Child Benefit or seniors eligible to receive the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement qualify for high-speed internet for $20/month. Those eligible will receive a letter in the mail containing information about how to apply.
In line with Canada’s Connectivity Strategy, which aims to provide all Canadians with access to Internet speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload, Connecting Families 2.0 introduces significantly faster speeds and increased data usage. For $20 a month, Internet speeds will be five and ten times faster respectively than previously offered. As well, the data allotment is doubling, from 100 GB to 200 GB of usage per month.
This builds on other action taken by our government – like Canada’s Connectivity Strategy and the Universal Broadband Fund – to ensure that every Canadian, including those in rural and remote communities, has reliable, affordable, and high-speed internet access.
