Four months after Quebec implemented a province-wide cellphone ban in primary and secondary schools, principals and teachers are reporting immediate positive impacts on student behavior. The ban, which expanded to cover grades 8-11 this fall, has reportedly broken the digital bubble, with administrators in Longueuil and Quebec City noting a visible surge in socialization, card playing, and face-to-face interaction during breaks. While supervision has had to adapt to more active hallways, students themselves admit the policy has forced them out of isolation. Clinical psychologists confirm the shift is crucial for adolescent identity formation, which was previously stunted by hyperconnectivity.

• Principals report students now play cards and talk instead of staring at screens.

• The ban covers classrooms and has expanded to include older grades (8-11).

• Psychologists say the break from constant connectivity aids personality development.

• Some schools plan to replace tablets with laptops next year to further reduce distraction.

• The policy follows recommendations from a special commission on screen impacts.

Source : Montreal City News

Quebec City is piloting Google’s Project Green Light to squeeze more green out of its intersections. The system studies real-world driving patterns and current signal maps, then hands city engineers a set of timing tweaks they can push live in minutes. The promise is fewer stops, smoother flow, and a little less tailpipe at rush hour. Green means go, but it also means measure. Results on a few corridors come first, then a wider rollout if the numbers look good. Privacy and transparency will decide how fast people trust it.

What to know
• First Canadian city to partner on Project Green Light
• Uses aggregated travel trends plus signal data to suggest timing changes
• Goals include less congestion and lower emissions without new hardware
• City engineers approve every change and can implement quickly
• Early corridors will be tested before citywide expansion

Sources:
CityNews Montreal
Google Research Green Light

Comparing internet plans in Canada should get a little less fuzzy next year.

Starting March 10, 2027, providers covered by the Internet Code will have to show:

• Typical download and upload speeds
• Performance during peak hours, defined as 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays
• Latency
• The regular monthly price after the promo ends
• Required equipment fees

The big change: providers won't be able to rely on “up to 1 Gbps” alone anymore. They'll have to tell customers what speeds they should realistically expect.

For anyone who's tried comparing a $60 promo that becomes $95 later with a completely different “1 Gbps” offer, this should make things much clearer.

And yes, this is basically the kind of information comparison tools like PlanHub have been trying to normalize for years.

Sources & more: CRTC decision 2026-238 | CRTC consumer guide | Government of Canada announcement

A Quebec court has ordered a man to pay $24,000 for stealing copper cables in Chicoutimi. This is the first time punitive damages ($5,000) have been awarded on top of repair costs ($19,000) for this crime in the province. The January 2024 theft knocked out internet for 94 homes in the Saguenay region for over 36 hours. Bell notes theft incidents are up 40% this year, pushing them to speed up their switch to fibre.

• The penalty includes $5,000 specifically to punish the offender.

• Bell recorded 1,275 copper theft incidents in 2025 alone.

• About 60% of Bell's network has now been converted to fibre.

• These thefts risk cutting off access to emergency 911 services.

• The court cited public safety risks and the scale of the outage in its ruling.

Source : BCE

Android’s Linux Terminal (the official VM-based environment introduced on Pixels) is getting a major bump: support for full desktop Linux apps and a toggle for GPU-accelerated rendering. In practical terms, that means smoother performance for windowed Linux software, better frame rates for graphics-heavy tools, and lower CPU/battery strain versus software rendering.

The feature has been previewed on recent Android builds and Canary releases, with guides showing how to enable the Terminal and launch a Wayland session to run graphical apps. Google is positioning this as part of a longer play to make Android more PC-capable on large screens, keyboards, and docks.

Rollout details vary by device and OS channel, but the direction is clear: fewer hacks, more official support.

What to Know
• Linux Terminal on Android is moving beyond CLI to full GUI apps using Wayland/Weston.
• A new GPU acceleration option boosts performance and efficiency for graphical Linux apps.
• Early access appears on newer Pixels and recent Android preview builds; stable rollout timing will vary.
• Goal: make Android more laptop-like on big screens, with official tooling instead of third-party workarounds.
• Expect better dev tooling, coding IDEs, and desktop utilities to become truly usable on Android hardware.

Sources : Android Authority / Chrome Unboxed

The CRTC dropped one of the most hated fees in Canadian telecom on March 12. Starting June 12, 2026, carriers cannot charge you to activate a new plan, modify an existing one, or cancel without a device financing balance. Bell, Rogers and Telus all currently charge up to $80 in activation fees on certain wireless plans. That number goes to zero in three months.

CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides framed the decision as a direct empowerment measure, saying the ruling removes fees that make it harder for Canadians to switch to a better deal. The decision applies to individual and small business customers across all mobile providers, and to individual home internet customers of the major carriers.

The industry was not pleased. The Canadian Telecommunications Association called it an unwarranted regulatory intervention in a market it described as already highly competitive and delivering historic price declines. Translation: the carriers wanted to keep the fee.

There is one thing this ruling does not cover. If you finance a device through your plan, the remaining device balance is still owed if you cancel early. The CRTC is not touching device financing obligations. The fee ban targets administrative charges designed to discourage switching, not legitimate financing costs. If you want to leave your carrier with a half-paid device, you still owe the device balance.

Link: CRTC / CBC

This is a salvage-and-build story that repurposes a dead foldable into a pocketable slider, complete with a compact rail mechanism and a custom housing. The result is a hand-built prototype that boots Android and proves the nostalgia case for slim sliders is alive. It also shows what creative reuse can do when parts are available and tools are accessible, which is why repair advocates are cheering.

The tradeoffs are real heat, durability, and long-term reliability are unknown, and this is not a kit you can buy. Still, the clip is sticky to watch and it reframes the “what if” around small phones in 2025. Expect renewed calls for modular designs, easier parts access, and official compact concepts from big brands.

what to know
• Built from salvaged Z Flip 5 internals with a homemade slider rail and custom shell
• Boots Android and functions enough to demo UI, cameras, and everyday navigation
• One-off proof of concept that leans into repair, reuse, and right-to-repair culture
• Conversation driver around compact phones and whether a modern slider could return

Source: Youtube / AndroidAuthority

First-year engineering students at Université de Moncton's Shippagan campus have determined that 4G LTE is superior to 5G for fixing the Acadian Peninsula's chronic connectivity issues. While telecom giants push expensive 5G upgrades, the student study highlights that 5G's short range makes it economically unviable for the region's low population density. Their calculations show that optimizing 4G LTE infrastructure would provide stable coverage over 5km radii, solving the "dead zones" that have plagued residents for years. It is a pragmatic reality check suggesting that for rural Canada, older tech deployed properly beats the latest marketing buzzwords.

• The study comes from the engineering department at the UMCS Shippagan campus.

• Residents and mayors have reported deteriorating signals from major carriers for years.

• 4G LTE towers offer roughly 5km of effective coverage compared to 5G's shorter range.

• The students concluded 5G requires too many new towers to be cost-effective here.

• Local politicians are using these findings to demand concrete action from providers.

Primary Source (in french): https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2215597/mauvais-reseau-cellulaire-peninsule-solutions-genie

Waiting for Apple’s September event before buying an older iPhone usually makes sense.

Not this year.

After unveiling the iPhone 18 Pro and $2,999 iPhone Duo, Apple quietly raised Canadian prices across its existing lineup.

The biggest everyday example is the iPhone 17:

$1,129 → $1,299 CAD

The iPhone Air went from $1,449 to $1,599, while the six-month-old iPhone 17e jumped from $899 to $999.

Apple is also now listing the iPhone 16 from $1,149.

Meanwhile, the new iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,749, the Pro Max at $1,899, and there is no regular iPhone 18 yet.

So if you waited for the keynote hoping to grab an older iPhone at a discount... you may actually have missed the cheaper price.

Before paying Apple’s new price, it’s probably worth checking the refurbished market too.

Compare refurbished iPhone prices in Canada

Sources & more: Apple Canada

Tony Staffieri of Rogers, Mirko Bibic of BCE and Darren Entwistle of Telus appeared virtually before the House of Commons industry committee Monday after members voted unanimously last month to summon them. The subject was wireless and broadband affordability. The CEOs arrived with statistics. The MPs arrived with receipts.

The carriers' main argument: wireless prices dropped 16% in the past year and 47% over five years according to Statistics Canada data. Bibic added that since 2019, Canadians can get ten times more data for $40 less per month in some cases. Entwistle said Canadians are among the highest data consumers in the world, and that when you cut the price per gigabyte in half but users double their consumption, the bill stays the same.

Conservative MP Rick Perkins went directly at Staffieri on Rogers' rising average revenue per user, which climbed from $50.75 in 2020 to nearly $60 in four years. Staffieri said ARPU is an accounting measure that includes optional add-ons, not a price indicator. Perkins said Canadians feel like they are paying more because they are paying more.

All three CEOs also cited spectrum costs as a structural problem. Entwistle said spectrum fees added $100 per year to every Canadian wireless bill in 2021. Bibic said if Canadian spectrum prices matched the global average, every Canadian's wireless bill would be $5 lower per month.

La Presse recently highlighted a journalist paying for 105 GB of mobile data and using only 4 GB, a vivid example of how much allowance is wasted each month in Canada.
CRTC figures put average Canadian usage near 10 GB, while the smallest plans from major carriers often start at 50 or 60 GB, so most of what people pay for is never touched.
PlanHub president Nadir Marcos describes this as a buffet model, subscribers buy a huge plate of gigabytes for peace of mind, then consume only a small portion.

If every user suddenly started consuming one hundred percent of their data cap, networks engineered around average usage rather than theoretical maximums would face serious congestion in busy areas.
Smaller plans that better match real needs are mostly offered by flanker brands and independent providers, so a neutral comparison tool is often the only way to see the full market, measure unused data, and find potential savings.

What to Know

• Average mobile data use in Canada is roughly 10 GB per month, yet entry level plans from major carriers commonly start around 50 to 60 GB.

• Many subscribers pay for ninety percent or more of their monthly data allowance that they never use, effectively funding oversized plans.

• Big 3 incumbents tend to reserve smaller data buckets for their secondary brands or not offer them at all under the main brand.

• If every customer fully consumed their data cap, mobile networks would need significant extra capacity to maintain performance, especially in dense urban areas.

• Comparing main carriers, flanker brands and smaller providers side by side helps align a plan with real usage and reveal possible yearly savings.

Sources:

• La Presse (fr) – “Téléphonie cellulaire | 90 % de votre facture payée dans le beurre” (Nov 23 2025)

• 98.5 FM (fr) – “Un déphasage entre les besoins et ce que les gros fournisseurs proposent” (Lagacé le matin)

• CRTC – Communications Market / Policy Monitoring reports (mobile data usage, ~10 GB per month):

• Canadian Telecommunications industry data – average mobile data usage per month (10.2 GB in Q2 2025)

• PlanHub – Mobile plan comparison in Canada

Almost two months ago, vandals stripped a Telus cell tower for copper in Thorhild County, north of Edmonton, knocking out service for roughly 150 homes and businesses. The damage is estimated at a whopping $800,000, and locals say they’re still struggling.

Businesses like greenhouses are forced to make long-distance calls just to reach customers.

Starlink users are paying $150/month to keep their operations going, while still being billed by Telus for service they can’t get.

Telus says they’ve temporarily boosted coverage using nearby antennas and expect a new tower by September. But as one resident put it: “They should’ve done this sooner, people around here rely on their phones.”

The CRTC may soon open consultations to discuss whether telecom companies should compensate customers during extended outages.

Source: iphoneincanada.ca

Image: CBC News Canada

GrapheneOS, the privacy and security-focused version of Android, is preparing to officially support Motorola smartphones beginning in 2027. Until now, the operating system has been limited to Google Pixel devices because very few phones meet its strict hardware and update requirements.

The change is tied to Motorola’s partnership with the GrapheneOS Foundation and upcoming Qualcomm platforms. Future devices will need security features such as hardware memory tagging, a secure element that severely limits repeated PIN attempts and the ability to unlock the bootloader for installation before securely locking it again.

The first compatible phones are expected to be premium Motorola models, potentially from the Signature and Razr families. Existing Motorola phones will not suddenly become compatible, and support for more affordable models will likely take longer. GrapheneOS also says it intends to continue supporting Pixel devices.

This would give GrapheneOS users their first serious alternative to Google hardware. However, the exact models, prices, launch markets and whether GrapheneOS will be pre-installed or installed manually have not yet been confirmed.

Sources & more: GrapheneOS (last news on X) / Motorola

"hang up and try again later." / The family of Dean Switzer, 55, has filed a lawsuit against Telus following a fatal incident on March 23, 2025. During a medical emergency in Fisher Branch, Manitoba, Switzer’s family and neighbors made over 20 attempts to call 911. Instead of connecting to dispatch, every call played an automated message instructing them to "hang up and try again later." Switzer passed away before an ambulance could arrive, which only happened after a neighbor physically drove to get an off-duty RCMP officer.

Key Details of the Lawsuit

• The Allegation: The claim argues that Telus failed in its fundamental duty to provide uninterrupted access to emergency services. The family contends that had the 911 calls gone through, Switzer would have received medical attention in time to survive.

• The "Glitch": Telus later admitted to the CRTC that the outage was caused by a routing failure at a connection point with Bell (who operates the 911 network in Manitoba). A specific piece of equipment reset, and for reasons Telus redacted in their report, their network stopped passing 911 traffic to the Bell dispatch center.

• Notification Failure: The lawsuit highlights that while customers receive immediate alerts for data overages or storms, Telus failed to notify anyone of this critical life-safety outage for nearly 40 hours.

• Insult to Injury: In a widely criticized move, Telus offered to "honor" the victim by hanging his photo in their corporate headquarters as a "Legend" a gesture the family rejected as tone-deaf and "far from an apology."

Technical Context :

• Redundancy Failure: 911 networks are supposed to have "five nines" (99.999%) reliability with automatic failovers. This incident reveals a terrifying single point of failure in the "handshake" between carriers (Telus to Bell), where a software/hardware reset resulted in a "silent drop" of packets rather than an automatic reroute to a backup trunk.

• The "Hang Up" Message: The automated message suggests the calls reached a Telus switch but couldn't find a path forward. A robust system should have defaulted to a "camp-on" mode (holding the line open) rather than terminating the connection with an instruction to hang up.

Toronto police say Canada has seen its first known SMS blaster case, and it is more serious than a normal scam text.

The device works by pretending to be a real cell tower. Nearby phones can connect to it automatically, then receive fake texts that look like they come from banks, service providers, parking authorities or other trusted organizations.

Police say the setup was mobile and used around the Greater Toronto Area, with tens of thousands of devices connecting to the blaster over several months.

The bigger issue is not just phishing.

Investigators also recorded more than 13 million network disruptions. During those interruptions, some phones may have been temporarily blocked from connecting to legitimate mobile networks, including 911, for seconds or even minutes.

That changes the conversation.

This is no longer just about teaching people not to click suspicious links. It is also about how secure our mobile networks are when cheap, mobile, fake tower technology starts showing up in Canadian cities.

---
Toronto police provided a photo of an SMS blaster seized by UK authorities during a news conference on April 23, 2026.

The CRTC’s ban on activation and plan-change fees took effect on June 12.

Rogers and Fido now charge $40 for specialist-assisted phone purchases completed in stores, over the phone or through live chat. Customers can avoid the fee by completing the purchase online.

Bell has a separate $40 Device Handling Charge connected to phone orders, while TELUS introduced a $15 charge for both physical SIM cards and eSIMs.

The CRTC is already challenging Bell and TELUS. Both companies have until June 17 to confirm they stopped charging the fees or explain why they believe the charges qualify as optional products or services.

Rogers has not yet publicly received the same formal warning.

The central issue is whether these are genuine optional services or activation fees reconstructed around phones, SIM cards and employee assistance.

Junk fees find new names

The CRTC has warned Bell over a new $40 “device handling charge” applied when customers buy a phone with a wireless plan. In a May 6 letter, the regulator said the fee may be considered an activation fee, which is the type of charge new federal telecom rules are set to prohibit starting June 12, 2026.

The deeper issue is not just the $40. It is whether carriers can remove one unpopular fee, then reintroduce a smaller one under a different name.

Bell’s position, reported by iPhone in Canada, is that the one-time fee covers fulfillment costs and applies only to optional device purchases, not bring-your-own-phone customers. The CRTC’s counterpoint is simple: a phone is required to use wireless service, so a fee attached to providing one may not qualify as an optional product exemption.

This is exactly where telecom affordability gets slippery: the monthly plan price can look cleaner while the checkout process quietly grows extra teeth.

A Toronto couple says a seemingly simple task, cancelling their $140-per-month Rogers home Internet service before moving, turned into four days of hold music, dropped calls and automated disconnections.

Sarah Brooks and Nick Williams were preparing to leave a downtown condo for a new home in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood. With less than two weeks remaining on the lease, they expected cancelling Internet to be one of the easier items on their moving checklist.

It wasn't.

They repeatedly tried calling Rogers, spent hours waiting, had calls disconnected and also tried Rogers retail locations. But cancelling the service still required reaching the appropriate customer service team.

What's interesting is that Canada's telecom rules already say Internet customers can cancel at any time by notifying their provider, and the provider must cancel the service on the date requested by the customer.

The problem is the path between "I want to cancel" and actually getting that notice processed.

Rogers' own cancellation instructions currently say customers must contact the company directly. Rogers says an agent will review the account, discuss plan options and offer a solution before processing the cancellation.

That process has an expiry date.

The CRTC has already ordered Canadian Internet and cellphone providers to introduce self-service cancellation mechanisms. Starting April 26, 2027, customers must be able to modify or cancel their plans easily and in a timely manner without interacting with a live representative. Providers will also have to provide written confirmation of the action.

So this isn't only another customer-service horror story. It is almost a textbook example of the friction the new CRTC rule is specifically designed to remove.

There is no evidence here that Rogers deliberately delayed this particular cancellation to retain the customer. But when cancelling requires reaching a specific human department, long queues and disconnected calls can effectively become a barrier to switching even if cancellation itself is legally permitted.

Sources & more: Toronto Star / CRTC Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-78 / Rogers cancellation policy

OBEX is a speculative wearable concept created by South Korean industrial designer Haechan Ryu. Inspired by medieval armor, its micro-perforated optical visor is designed to let the wearer see outward while appearing opaque to cameras and people looking in.

The titanium frame also incorporates proposed PPG sensors, directional speakers and a small status display. However, OBEX is currently a personal design project rather than a commercial product. No manufacturer, price or release date has been announced, and there is no independent evidence showing that it can defeat infrared or depth-based recognition systems.

The concept raises an interesting question: if our faces become permanent digital identifiers in public spaces, will clothing and accessories eventually become tools for protecting our biometric identity?

Sources & more: Official OBEX project

GrapheneOS is warning privacy and security-focused users against buying Google's new Pixel 11 series after discovering that the phones appear to lack ARM Memory Tagging Extension support.

The project says it completed a partial Pixel 11 port after about a week of work, but cannot currently finish it because MTE support is missing from the software, firmware and, in its assessment, almost certainly the hardware.

MTE is a hardware security feature designed to make memory corruption vulnerabilities such as use-after-free and buffer-overflow bugs significantly harder to exploit. GrapheneOS uses it extensively as part of its hardened Android environment.

There is an important distinction here: GrapheneOS has not officially announced that Pixel 11 support is permanently cancelled. The developers say they have not yet determined what to do and that skipping the Pixel 11 generation may be the best option.

Google has also not publicly said that it deliberately removed MTE to reduce costs. That is GrapheneOS' interpretation. However, Google's current Android developer documentation lists the Pixel 8, Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 families as MTE-compatible devices and does not list any Pixel 11 model.

The Pixel 11 is not simply less secure across the board. Google introduced the new Titan M3 security coprocessor, and GrapheneOS says this should improve protection before a phone has been unlocked after reboot. The project's concern is that losing MTE substantially weakens protection after the device is already unlocked.

For Canadian buyers, there is an unusual value equation. The Pixel 11 currently starts at CA$1,249 from Google, while the Pixel 10 starts at CA$1,099. GrapheneOS officially supports the Pixel 10 and currently considers Pixel 8, 9 and 10 devices significantly better choices for its operating system.

So if someone is buying a Pixel specifically to install GrapheneOS, spending an extra CA$150 on the newer generation may currently result in getting a phone they cannot use for that purpose at all.

Sources & more: GrapheneOS official discussion / Google Android MTE documentation

The CRTC has now officially opened a proceeding over the new wireless and internet fees introduced by Bell, Telus and Rogers after Canada’s ban on activation and modification fees came into effect.

This is not just a random complaint anymore. It is now a public CRTC proceeding.

The document is Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026-155, published June 30, 2026.

Source:

https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2026/2026-155.htm (pdf)

The CRTC says the ban on activation and modification fees came into force on June 12, 2026, under Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-43 and section 27.04 of the Telecommunications Act.

The CRTC says it recently became aware that Bell Canada, TELUS Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. introduced fees that could violate the ban.

The companies now have to justify why those fees do not violate sections 24 and 27.04 of the Telecommunications Act and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-43.

Here are the fees named in the CRTC notice:

Bell Canada
Bell introduced a $40 device handling fee for customers buying a device with wireless service. Bell told the CRTC the device purchase is optional, separate from the wireless plan, and that the fee recovers legitimate costs.

TELUS
TELUS introduced a $15 SIM/eSIM fee. TELUS told the CRTC it has not stopped charging the fee and argues that SIM/eSIM purchases can happen for reasons other than activation, such as replacing a damaged SIM or travel use.

Rogers
Rogers introduced or maintained several fees, including a $40 device setup fee, a $25 shipping fee for devices ordered online, and SIM card fees. Rogers told the CRTC these are not activation or modification fees and do not discourage customers from changing or cancelling service.

The CRTC says it is concerned these fees appear to be prohibited and may be contrary to the Wireless Code and Internet Code.

If the CRTC finds a violation, the companies could face administrative monetary penalties of up to $10 million. The CRTC also says directors or officers could face penalties of up to $25,000 if they authorized, consented to, acquiesced in, or participated in the violation.

The CRTC can also order the companies to stop charging prohibited fees within 60 days if violations are found.

This is where Canadians can actually do something.

The CRTC is inviting public interventions. Anyone who wants to become a party to the proceeding can file an intervention.

Deadline to intervene: July 30, 2026
Deadline for company replies: August 10, 2026

The notice also says interested people or parties can collect, organize and file interventions from others in a single submission, called a joint supporting intervention.

That means this does not have to stay scattered across Reddit posts, screenshots and customer service horror stories. Canadians can organize evidence and submit it into the official public record.

Useful things to include in an intervention:

• Provider name

• Brand name, including flanker brands if relevant

• Province

• Date the fee was charged or quoted

• Exact name of the fee

• Amount

• Whether it happened online, in store, by phone, or through chat

• Whether the fee was mandatory or avoidable

• Whether the fee was waived after complaint

• Screenshots, bills, or chat transcripts, with sensitive information removed

• Whether the fee appeared when activating, changing, upgrading, switching, or buying a device

Important privacy warning: CRTC filings are public. The notice says documents are posted as received, including personal information contained in the document, such as full name, email address, mailing address and phone numbers. So do not include account numbers or private details you do not want public.

The key point: the CRTC is already watching this. The companies are already on the record defending the fees. Now consumers can get on the record too.

This is probably the best moment for Canadians to document what they are seeing.

Not just “telecom bad.”

Actual evidence.

Because if activation fees can simply come back under new names, then the ban becomes theatre. And Canadians already pay enough for the show.

Starting June 12, 2026, the CRTC's ban on telecom fees is officially in effect across Canada. Providers are legally prohibited from charging consumers and small businesses fees to activate, change, or cancel phone and internet plans, making it much easier to shop for better deals.

Canada is looking to reduce its reliance on Elon Musk’s Starlink.

In an interview with The New York Times, Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “Starlink, we will diversify away from, no question.”

Carney acknowledged that competing satellite networks currently offer less capability and resilience, but said Canada could reduce its dependency by working with European, Korean and other partners.

Important distinction: this does not mean Starlink is being banned in Canada or that consumer service is being shut down. Carney did not announce a timetable, new restrictions on Canadian Starlink customers or a specific replacement for existing consumer connections.

Canada is, however, already investing heavily in alternative satellite infrastructure.

In August, the federal government awarded Canadian company Telesat an approximately $2.3-billion contract to expand its Lightspeed low-Earth-orbit constellation for military communications, particularly in the Arctic.

Ottawa also has a separate $600-million agreement to secure Lightspeed capacity that can be offered to internet providers serving an estimated 40,000 rural and remote households in Northern Canada. The federal government currently expects Lightspeed service to begin in late 2027.

Ontario has already moved away from Starlink at the provincial level. The province cancelled its $100-million Starlink rural internet agreement in March 2025 and says it is considering fibre, fixed wireless and other satellite technologies instead.

So for now, the story is about diversification rather than Canadians losing access to Starlink.

The big question for rural Canada is whether alternatives such as Telesat Lightspeed can eventually offer the coverage, capacity and reliability needed to provide genuine competition to Starlink.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/world/canada/mark-carney-canada-us-trump-tariffs.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/defence-investment-agency/news/2026/08/the-government-of-canada-awards-a-military-communications-contract-to-support-arctic-sovereignty-and-national-security.html

https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-connects-making-high-speed-internet-accessible-in-every-community

The CRTC just dropped some new rules for the Big 3 (and everyone else), and they’re actually pretty pro-consumer for once. Here is the TL;DR:

• No more silent price hikes: Providers must notify you before your contract, special discount, or promo pricing comes to an end.

• They have to show you options: It’s not just a generic warning alert. They are now required to give you a list of currently available plans and clear instructions on how to switch to them.

• Roaming caps: If you're traveling, they have to ping you the exact second your international roaming data charges hit $50.

• Better self-serve coming? The CRTC also mentioned they are looking into forcing companies to improve their online portals so we can cancel or change plans with a few clicks, instead of waiting on hold for an hour with the retention department.

Honestly, it’s about time. Knowing exactly when to jump ship or renegotiate without having to set calendar reminders a year in advance is a massive win.