All Canadians need access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet service more than ever, no matter where they live.

For this reason, the governments of Ottawa and Ontario are committed to connecting underserved or unconnected communities to high-speed internet, so rural communities will benefit from increased internet connection speeds.

Secretary to the Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Youth and Member of Parliament for Kanata-Carleton, Jenna Sudds, on behalf of the Minister of Rural Economic Development, Judy Hatcher, announced an investment of more than $13 million from federal regional funding to Bell Canada, to provide high-speed internet access to more than 6,400 homes in areas such as Arnprior, Braeside, Burnstown, Carp, Constance Bay, Dunrobin, Fitzroy Harbour, Glasgow Station, Kinburn, Marathon Village, and White Lake.

The projects announced today are part of the broadband partnership agreement signed between the governments of Ottawa and Ontario on July 29, 2021, to support large-scale fiber optic network deployment projects, providing high-speed internet access to more than 280,000 homes in the province. This unprecedented agreement was made possible thanks to a federal regional investment of more than $1.2 billion.

Today's announcement will also allow the Canadian government to make further progress toward its goal of connecting 98% of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2026, and 100% by 2030, and it also brings the Ontario government closer to achieving its own goal of enabling all communities with internet speed by the end of 2025.