In 2016, the CRTC declared broadband internet to be a basic telecommunications service in Canada¹⁷⁷. This is analogous to other countries that declared the internet a basic human right, starting with Estonia in 2000. Indeed, Alberta began development of the Alberta SuperNet that same year, in part to improve internet access for all Albertans. Twenty years later, the need for ubiquitous broadband internet was amplified by the global lockdowns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic¹⁷⁸.

According to Cloudflare, countries like the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Brazil experienced jumps in network usage of 40-50% after the rise of the pandemic in 2020. As we move towards a post-pandemic world, it is likely that recent shifts in internet use for work and education will become permanent¹⁷⁹. This puts those without adequate broadband services (as well as without adequate access to computing technologies) at a serious social and economic disadvantage. 

Figure 29. Change in internet traffic levels in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020¹⁸⁰.

References

¹⁷⁷CBC. CRTC declares broadband internet access a basic service | CBC News. 22 December 2016.

¹⁷⁸CBC. If a crisis like COVID-19 hasn't pushed government to take action to improve broadband access, what can? | CBC News. 23 August 2020.

¹⁷⁹Forbes. Internet Service Providers Need To Prepare For The Post-Pandemic Era. 15 July 2020.

¹⁸⁰Cloudflare. Internet performance during the COVID-19 emergency (cloudflare.com). 23 April 2020.