The Engineers Canada Board has approved a new National Position Statement about building Canada’s high-speed broadband through a sustainable digital infrastructure. It states that Engineers Canada believes that broadband connectivity must be reliable, sustainable, secure, protected, and accessible to all Canadians, particularly for those residing in rural, remote, and northern communities.
Access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet and mobile connectivity is essential for personal and professional communications, for business sustainability and growth, and for access to government services. However, Canada currently faces a national connectivity gap as Canadians living in rural, remote, or Northern communities face daily challenges of slower and unreliable internet access compared to their urban counterparts. The spread of COVID-19 demonstrates an increased need for reliable high-speed broadband connectivity in these communities as many industries shifted employees to virtual work. Equitable and affordable access to sustainable digital infrastructure helps create equal opportunity for Canadians and is a vital component of an inclusive and progressive economy.
Despite the strong progress that has been made, such as the federal government’s development of the Universal Broadband Fund, the National Position Statement argues that investing in sustainable broadband infrastructure must remain a top priority for the federal government, and offers a number of recommendations, including:
- Ensuring that engineers in Canada are used in all aspects of making high-speed access and broadband connectivity available, especially in the planning, development, maintenance, rehabilitation, and commissioning of sustainable broadband infrastructure.
- Encouraging the integration of broadband deployment within all infrastructure renewal programs.
- Incentivizing the use of all available technologies to connect rural Canada on an expedited timeline.
- Creating the conditions for increased private sector investment.
- Looking for opportunities to partner with provincial and municipal funding programs to maximize the efficacy of federal funding programs.
Engineers Canada’s National Position Statements are consensus positions of the provincial and territorial engineering regulators on key issues that relate to the public interest. They are not only meant to provide information about the issue to members of the engineering profession, but they also are meant to facilitate discussion with government and influence public policy.
Read the full National Position Statement on Engineers Canada’s website.
