Ottawa releases Telecom Competition Roadmap with 18 actions for 2026 and 2027
Key points
- Industry Minister Mélanie Joly launched Canada's first Telecom Competition Roadmap, a plan with 18 actions for 2026 and 2027 meant to bring more choice, lower phone and internet prices and better networks.
- The plan aims to remove regional barriers so smaller providers can compete with Rogers, Bell and Telus across the country.
- Ottawa wants the CRTC, Canada's telecom regulator, to merge its Wireless Code and Internet Code into one consumer code that highlights the lowest-cost plans. Internet plan transparency rules are set for March 2027.
- Millimetre-wave airwaves will be released over the next three years, which the government says could multiply available wireless spectrum five-fold.
- The government says wireless prices are down 49 per cent from 2019, and a 60 gigabyte plan that averaged $105 in 2022 now often sells for $40 to $50.
- Progress will be tracked through prices, switching behaviour, speeds, coverage and complaints. If results fall short, Ottawa says it is ready to revise its policy direction to the CRTC.
The roadmap builds on moves already made. The CRTC set final wholesale rates for most fibre-to-the-home connections in April, following the August 2025 decision that required the big carriers to open their fibre lines to rivals. Smaller providers still say some of those rates are too high, and independent ISPs asked the regulator over the summer to fix wholesale fibre pricing. For wireless, the plan leans on rules that let smaller brands rent capacity on the big networks. The government says the rates they pay have fallen about 75 per cent in recent years, and the CRTC plans to publish profitability benchmarks for rate talks. The spectrum plan follows May’s decision to cap how much of the fastest 5G spectrum Rogers, Bell and Telus can buy.
Some consumer changes are already in force. After Telecommunications Act changes in late 2025, the CRTC barred extra fees to activate, change or cancel a plan as of June 12, which one government estimate puts at about $100 million a year in savings. Internet plan advertising rules also now require busy-hour speeds, not only “up to” claims. Next up, ISED will roll out a “dig once” approach so fibre goes in alongside major road, rail and energy projects, and tower siting rules are under review, including a proposal to cut the municipal concurrence window from 120 days to 45.
The merged consumer code is not settled. In a filing this summer, Telus asked the CRTC to make the new code the only consumer rules that count, overriding provincial laws in places like British Columbia and Quebec. It also wants trial periods kept at 15 days instead of the 30 in the draft, and wants the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services taken off the job of enforcing the code. The roadmap, by contrast, wants more Canadians to know that complaints body exists. The government also acknowledges that many customers still pay more than today’s best offers, with average revenue per user at the large carriers around $56 a month.
