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Legislation and regulation

Last updated on April 29, 2024

The telecommunications sector in Canada is regulated by the federal government. This impacts how service providers operate and shapes the roles of different levels of governments (Indigenous, provincial, regional, and municipal) in connectivity expansion and uptake. 

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Roles and responsibilities

Public policy that impacts connectivity services is created by the federal and provincial governments. The following outlines the different roles that various levels of governments play in connectivity.

Federal government

The federal government has regulatory and oversight powers over telecommunications. The Government of Canada regulates the industry through three key pieces of legislation: The Telecommunications Act; Broadcasting Act; and the Radiocommunications Act.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Corporation (CRTC) hold primary responsibility for telecommunications:

  • ISED is the federal department directly responsible for telecommunications. The purpose of ISED is to improve conditions for investment and build a fair, efficient, and competitive marketplace.
  • The CRTC is an administrative tribunal that operates at arm's length from the federal government. It has regulatory authority over most of the country's telecommunications.

Provincial government

The Province of British Columbia does not have regulatory authority over the telecommunications industry. The Province is, however, responsible for several areas that have a direct impact on telecommunications providers, such as access to public assets and provincial building codes. It also may subsidize telecommunications infrastructure builds to encourage the expansion of connectivity in places where there may not be a business case to do so.

The Ministry of Citizens’ Services holds the mandate for connectivity in B.C. The ministry has three functions:

  1. Oversee connectivity infrastructure funding programs;  
  2. Offer connectivity preparedness planning tools and resources; and
  3. Coordinate policy and programs related to connectivity across government.

While the Ministry of Citizens’ Services is responsible for connectivity, several ministries and agencies are also involved in the deployment of broadband across the province. These include:

  • The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure regulates access to highway rights-of-way, which can act as transportation routes for fiber attached to poles or buried underground;
  • The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship regulates access to Crown land. This is land (or land covered by water like rivers or lakes) that is owned by the provincial government. It sometimes provides the ideal site for installing radio towers or other infrastructure that are required to improve connectivity or extend it to more people; and
  • BC Hydro is a Crown Corporation that owns and/or regulates access to electrical poles, which can be used to deploy broadband infrastructure.

Municipalities and regional districts

Connectivity is not considered a core municipal service. Therefore, regional and municipal governments do not have a mandated role in telecommunications. Yet, they control access to resources (e.g. rights-of-way, underground conduits) required by telecommunications companies for expanding their services to underserved areas.

Even if local governments are not obligated to address local connectivity needs, there are regulatory and policy tools that they can use to reduce service delivery costs and possibly attract new investments in their community. It is important to understand how the policies and practices of municipalities and regional districts affect the economics of broadband and encourage the deployment of broadband networks.

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Roles of local government

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