$61-M investment in high-speed Internet planned for northern First Nations

More homes on remote Manitoba First Nations will have access to high-speed Internet that most Canadians take for granted thanks to $61 million in new federal funding.

“Your communities have been living way too long without internet,” federal Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand told a gathering at Wasagamack Anisininew Nation Thursday. The MP for northern Manitoba said the four projects will deliver modern, reliable internet to 2,309 households.

“This really is a public safety issue and an equity issue,” Chartrand said in the community 600 kilometres north of Winnipeg that’s accessible by air, water and winter road.

“The lack of broadband has been a public safety failure. When families can’t call for help or nurses can’t access files or lives are at risk when you’re travelling roads without phone service, without internet,” she said.

“I know this, too, because I’ve also lived it,” said the Anishinaabe, Inninew, and Métis woman who was an entrepreneur and educator before being elected in 2025.

“When we’re travelling to communities, there are long stretches where you do not have any connectivity, no phone service, no internet,” Chartrand said in an interview Friday. “That really does put you at risk, especially with the winter roads that people have to travel. When you break down, there is no connectivity.”

It’s vital to report wildfires, co-ordinate evacuations and respond to emergencies, and will improve online education and economic opportunities, she said.

It’ll bring the cost down for those who want to work or learn online from home but can’t afford the high cost to connect to Starlink satellite internet service, Chartrand said.

“It’ll help people pursue high school, upgrading, trades, college and university.” It fits in with the federal government’s $6-billion, five-year strategy to train up to 100,000 Red Seal trades workers, the minister said.

“We want to make sure that the North and Indigenous communities get their share of that… The ideal situation is that we line more people up for the trades and apprenticeship, but they’re actually applying those skills immediately to help with the builds in the North, whether it’s housing or infrastructure.”

The $61 million announced Thursday is from the federal government’s $3.25-billion universal broadband fund that’s designed to help provide high-speed internet access to 98 per cent of Canadian households by the end of 2026 and achieve the national target of 100 per cent access by 2030.

Currently, 96 per cent of Canadian households have access to high-speed Internet, compared with 79 per cent in 2014.

In Manitoba, 91 per cent of households have access to high-speed Internet.

Chartrand credited Island Lake Tribal Council leaders for pushing for high-speed internet and “digital sovereignty” for First Nations.

“They’re insistent that their people deserve the same digital access that the rest of Canada is receiving.” The tribal council did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Nearly $50 million is to provide high-speed wireless internet to 1,582 household (1,535 of which are Indigenous) more than 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg in Garden Hill First Nation, St. Theresa Point, Red Sucker Lake, Wasagamack, Stevenson Island, Island Lake by March 2029.

By the end of March 2027, 255 households (189 of which are Indigenous) in Mosakahiken Cree Nation and Moose Lake — 728 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg — can expect wireless connectivity, thanks to $5.8 million from the federal government.

Two of the high-speed internet projects are expected to be completed in December.

In York Landing and York Factory First Nation, 935 kilometres north of Winnipeg, 140 households will be connected by fibre-optics after receiving $3.4 million in federal funding.

In Grand Rapids and Misipawistik Cree Nation, 429 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, 332 households (242 of which are Indigenous) will be served with $2.1 million in federal funding.

The projects will help Canada meet its 2030 target of providing high-speed internet access to all Canadians, the federal government said in a news release Thursday.

“These projects will build toward that goal, and the government will continue to invest in infrastructure that creates new opportunities and makes sure communities can benefit from all of Canada’s potential.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca