Ottawa is providing over $1.6 million for added high-speed internet connections in Nipissing-Timiskaming.
The funding will bring high-speed internet to 684 rural households in the Hornell Heights area of North Bay and Powassan.
Al McDonald, Mayor of North Bay, says the announcement is good news for the north end of the city, just behind the airport.
“The one thing that we’re very proud of is that North Bay was named the fastest network in Canada but there are pockets in our community that do not have high-speed internet. We hear from those residents all the time that they feel like they’re being left behind,” McDonald says.
He says this announcement will make a difference for businesses and residents to be able to access the internet.
“The number one issue that we hear from all the municipalities around North Bay, and I think there are twelve in the group, is internet access and fast-internet,” McDonald says.
Peter McIsaac, Mayor of Powassan, says the announcement equates to over a third of the homes in his community.
He says the number one issue they hear about is the internet requirements that are being addressed in this announcement.
McIsaac points to home-schooling as an example.
“If COVID has taught us anything it’s that high-speed internet is really, I think it’s a human right it’s being described as now, and just to have children at home to download work plans from school, it’s a conversation that goes on a lot in our community,” he says.
The funding comes from the Rapid Response Stream of the $2.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund.
