Coalition for a Better Future highlights connectivity and rural infrastructure as essential to national growth
Broadband connectivity took centre stage during the Coalition for a Better Future’s Scorecard Reporting Event on March 26, as speakers emphasized that reliable, high-speed internet is now foundational to rural economic growth, community well-being, and Canada’s broader ambitions in technology and resource development.
The Coalition’s latest report, Time to Execute: Canada’s Crucible Moment, underscores that while Canada has made progress expanding internet access, rural and remote regions continue to lag behind, creating a digital divide with real economic and social consequences.
Connectivity as a Long-Term Economic Investment
The Hon. Buckley Belanger outlined the federal government’s ambitions for universal high-speed internet coverage, describing a coordinated partnership that includes traditional telecommunications providers and satellite companies. He framed broadband not as a short-term infrastructure project but as a long-term economic investment.
“One of the things that I would say is an investment piece around connectivity will pay off for many, many years,” Belanger said.
He pointed to telehealth as a clear and immediate example of the benefits reliable connectivity can unlock in underserved regions, particularly where access to doctors and specialists remains limited.
High-speed access is also increasingly essential for modern farm operations, remote work, and virtual education. Without it, rural communities face barriers to economic participation that go far beyond inconvenience.
Broadband and Public Trust
Earlier in the discussion, Coalition co-chair Lisa Raitt, Vice-Chair, Office of the CEO, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, stressed that broadband access is fundamentally a non-partisan issue, particularly in rural Canada.
“Conservatives mainly represent rural parts of this country, so they’re very much in favour of the investments being made in rural broadband,” she said. “That’s a positive thing that makes a lot of sense, but it’s also the one thing that gets to the heart of a vote of a Canadian. If you don't have rural broadband, you're not feeling really good about the government and you're not even going to think about voting for them."
Raitt said connectivity plays a direct role in how rural Canadians perceive their place in the national economy and whether they feel seen by decision-makers in Ottawa.
Indigenous Consultation and Infrastructure Development
The discussion also turned to Indigenous consultation and how infrastructure and resource development practices have evolved over time. Coalition co-chair Anne McLellan, former Liberal minister, reflected on the shift she has witnessed over the course of her career.
“Back when I was minister of natural resources, there wasn't a whole lot of consultation with any community, but particularly Indigenous communities,” she said.
She noted that court decisions have since established a clear “constitutional obligation” to acknowledge Indigenous rights, fundamentally changing the development landscape.
Raitt urged corporate leaders to treat Indigenous consultation as a core business requirement rather than a procedural step added late in the process.
“When you're on your board of directors, make sure you say, okay, when did we start the consultation — have we approached the community about this yet? It's not something you tick a box on later. It's something you deal with as part of your business plan.”
Rural Communities at the Centre of National Ambitions
McLellan emphasized that Canada’s ability to deliver on its infrastructure and growth ambitions depends heavily on rural and small-town Canada, and that public policy must reflect those realities.
“Virtually all those big projects go through rural and small town Canada,” she said. “Someone needs to start understanding what their needs are or else it will be difficult to achieve the ambition they're talking about.”
The Coalition’s report highlights that this is especially true for artificial intelligence projects and data centres, which require extensive land, power, and water resources.
The Digital Divide Remains
Despite progress, the report makes clear the digital divide remains a significant challenge. While 96.4 percent of Canadian households have access to the 50/10 Mbps broadband standard, that figure drops to 83 percent in rural areas.
High-speed internet, the report notes, is no longer a luxury but a necessity for remote work, virtual learning, and operating modern agricultural technology.
Without reliable connectivity, rural Canada also struggles to market and sell its goods globally.
As McLellan put it, “Imagine trying to sell to the world when your internet connection keeps cutting out.”
The Backbone of Canada’s AI Future
Ironically, rural Canada is increasingly expected to support the infrastructure behind Canada’s digital future. AI data centres, described in the report as industrial cities made of servers, require enormous amounts of electricity and water, resources that are overwhelmingly drawn from rural regions.
In Alberta, a single hyperscale data centre can consume as much as 11 million litres of water per day. The Coalition warns this creates the risk of a new form of disenfranchisement, where rural communities shoulder the environmental impacts and resource demands while the economic rewards, particularly high-paying technology jobs, remain concentrated in major urban centres.
As the Coalition’s leadership made clear, bridging the digital divide and strengthening rural connectivity is not only about fairness. It is about ensuring rural Canada can fully participate in, and benefit from, the country’s next phase of economic growth.
Photo Credit: Canada Coaltion Time to Execute: Canada’s Crucible Moment report.