At the end of April, the Government of BC released a new report showing an increase in access to high-speed internet services for people across the province. In 2021, the BC government promised to connect all households to high-speed broadband by 2027. Three years later, the B.C. Connectivity Report 2024 offers a snapshot of the province’s progress against this objective as well as how its connectivity compares against the rest of Canada. The key finding is that more BC residents are connected to both broadband and 5G cellular services since the last report was issued in 2022.
CIRA was pleased to supply speed data from the Internet Performance Test as an input into the analysis alongside data from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Statistics Canada, and others. Overall, our data shows clear improvements in both median upload and download speeds between 2021 and 2023 in both rural and urban settings. It also shows that B.C. has above average median speeds for both urban and rural areas when compared to the rest of Canada.
For a full overview, or to learn more about how the Government of BC approached benchmarking provincial connectivity levels, be sure to check out the full report here.
Jeff is the Internet Performance Test (IPT) Program Manager. The IPT is the most advanced internet quality test in Canada that provides public access to the performance results. Jeff is an avid advocate for how IPT data, maps and reports can help stakeholders identify areas with limited access, improve funding decisions, evaluate the success of funded projects and do so at a high degree of geographic granularity.
