Between 1998 to 2006, Industry Canada – through Connecting Canadians – provided close to $600M in six broadband initiatives: Community Access Program (CAP); SchoolNet/First Nations SchoolNet; Library-Net; VolNet (for charitable and not-for-profit organizations); SMART Communities; Canadian Content On-line; and Government Online.
Related Industry Canada programs included infrastructure funding initiatives like Broadband for Rural and Northern Development Pilot Program (BRAND), the National Satellite Initiative, and Broadband Canada.
Many of these initiatives adopted the Community Aggregator approach. They allowed community organizations to plan and manage projects. For example, the Community Access Program (CAP) granted funding for public Internet access sites. Local institutions could apply for up to $30,000 to pay for equipment, staff and connectivity costs, and training and skills. By 2003, 499 CAP sites existed in First Nations, often in public institutions like schools or community centres.
In 2010, some of these projects were documented in a free online book titled The Road We Travelled; Our Communities’ Voyage to the Future on the ICT Highway. According to TeleCommunities Canada, which also hosts an online archive of materials related to the CAP program, this book presents stories highlighting how rural, remote and Indigenous communities have “raised the profile of their communities through increased mastery of technology and application of technical skills to create lasting social and economic benefits for their families and communities”.
Digital Divide Documentary Reconnecting with C@P, a 2011 Documentary directed by Ariella Pahlke.
Despite its popularity and success across Canada, Industry Canada’s CAP program faced ongoing challenges to its long-term sustainability. In March 2010, CAP administrators located less than 25 km from a public library received letters from Industry Canada ending their funding. After a public outcry, Minister Tony Clement renewed funding another year, but federal funding was finally withdrawn in 2012. In some regions like Nunavut, territorial governments (or other funders) continued to support the program for several more years.
Read a detailed analysis of the CAP program in Marita Moll’s chapter in the 2012 book Connecting Canadians, titled “A Brief History of the Community Acccess Program: From Community Economic Develompent to Social Cohesion to Digital Divide” (pp.485-490).
An archived Government assessment of CAP from 2009.
(Association of Western Valley Cap Sites shows local reaction to Industry Canada Cutting of CAP Funding; uploaded April 12, 2012)
Video: An interesting collection of parliamentary arguments, most of which are critical of the decision to cut CAP and the argument that its objectives had already been met. Published May 24, 2012.