The second intake of the provincial connectivity funding program, Connecting Communities BC, will open for applications on Dec. 16, 2022.

The program supports expanding high-speed internet services to under-served rural, remote and Indigenous communities in British Columbia.

On March 8, 2022, the governments of British Columbia and Canada announced an agreement to invest as much as $830 million, contributing $415 million each, to support improving and expanding broadband connectivity infrastructure throughout B.C. This builds on the Province’s investments to date and includes a $289-million commitment announced in Budget 2022.

This funding will be disbursed through the Connecting Communities BC program and supports the Province’s target of connecting all remaining under-served households to high-speed internet by 2027.

Eligible applicants can apply for funding that supports expanding broadband to households in areas that do not have consistent access to internet speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed. This is the target speed for the universal service objective set by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the federal telecom regulatory agency. The program will consider applications for projects that meet or exceed these speeds.

The first intake round, which opened Sept. 7, will close on Dec. 15, 2022. The second intake will open for applications the following day at 9 a.m. (Pacific time).

The B.C. government's commitment to support expansion of high-speed internet services to all communities by 2027 aims to level the playing field for British Columbians, closing the digital divide and ensuring everyone has better access to jobs, education, training, health care and new, diversified economic opportunities.

Learn More:

Connecting Communities BC: www.gov.bc.ca/connectingcommunitiesbc

Connectivity in B.C.: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/connectivity-in-bc

StrongerBC: BC's Economic Plan: https://strongerbc.ca/plan

National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/sittibc/web/bbmap#!/map