Around the world, government involvement in ICT4D typically begins by building core infrastructures in urban centres. It then addresses gaps in targeted regions and populations, and ends by filling any remaining holes. In Canada, the federal government’s activities during the 1990s and 2000s – which were led by Industry Canada – followed this general approach.
In the early days of the Internet, federal government established a national strategy to ensure that all Canadians could connect to digital ICTs. The Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC) sought to use new technologies to support social and economic development. This was done by enabling people across Canada to create a variety of applications – from websites and streaming video to e-health records, internet telephone systems, and online education courses.
While IHAC’s work was dominated by government and corporate organizations, it included some input from community and nonprofit organizations. Leslie Regan Shade, a professor at the University of Toronto, describes how a number of groups emerged in the mid-1990s to ensure that the public had a voice in this process. In 1996, IHAC released its action plan, called Building the Information Society: Moving Canada into the 21st Century. The plan supported universal, affordable and equitable access to ICTs. However, critics argued that it offered few concrete suggestions on how to overcome social, economic, and cultural barriers.
This early work was followed by a Broadband Task Force formed by Industry Canada. Like IHAC, the Task Force was made up mostly of people who worked in government or business sectors, but included some representatives from non-profit and community groups. Also like IHAC, the Task Force stressed the important role that ICTs play in development initiatives. For example, in its final report the group stated that:
“It is no exaggeration to say that over time, the impact of broadband communications on Canadian life will be at least as great as the impact of railways, highways, airlines, traditional telecommunications and broadcasting” (p.3).
- Click here to read the final report of the Broadband Task Force
At that time, large organizations like government agencies and corporations already used broadband. Individual households and small businesses were beginning to take it up. Given a growing consensus that broadband would fundamentally transform the ways that people, communities, businesses, and governments interact, the Task Force mapped out a strategy to ensure it would be available in every Canadian community by 2004. In the next section, we will consider some of the ways that government tried to achieve that goal.
In January 2020, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel (BTLR) released their final report titled: Canada’s communications future: Time to act, which included several recommendations for changes to the role of the CRTC in regulating communications.
A mixed reaction to the report in the media ranged from skepticism to outrage and scattered optimism.
What is the CRTC? Ashley Csanady of the National Post explains. (Published Feb. 16, 2018)
Here a brief discussion about the extent of the CRTC’s regulatory reach to regulate cellular phone fees (published Feb. 19, 2020)
The CRTC’s role in Canada’s digital economy explained (published April 9, 2015)
Video: Industry Canada – Internet, radio and wireless: connecting Canadians. How the federal government manages the country’s digital infrastructure via allocation of spectrum, a valuable but limited “public resource”. (published Sept. 6, 2013)
Canada’s Digital Charter
Canada’s Digital Charter is part of a Liberal Government project under PM Justin Trudeau, first proposed in 2019, which aims to overhaul Canada’s privacy laws and define some principles for the Government’s approach to digital innovation, education and access for Canadian citizens. Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Honourable Navdeep Bains introduces Canada’s Digital Charter: Trust in a digital world.
- Canada’s Digital Charter: A Visual Summary (PDF, 1.002 KB)
- News release: Law to include the strongest fines among G7 for privacy laws November 17, 2020
The first of Canada’s Digital Charter’s ten principles is Universal Access to the digital world. The extent to which these principles will be reflected in policy and concrete action remains to be seen.
The 10 principles of Canada’s Digital Charter:
- Universal Access: All Canadians will have equal opportunity to participate in the digital world and the necessary tools to do so, including access, connectivity, literacy and skills.
- Safety and Security: Canadians will be able to rely on the integrity, authenticity and security of the services they use and should feel safe online.
- Control and Consent: Canadians will have control over what data they are sharing, who is using their personal data and for what purposes, and know that their privacy is protected.
- Transparency, Portability and Interoperability: Canadians will have clear and manageable access to their personal data and should be free to share or transfer it without undue burden.
- Open and Modern Digital Government: Canadians will be able to access modern digital services from the Government of Canada, which are secure and simple to use.
- A Level Playing Field: The Government of Canada will ensure fair competition in the online marketplace to facilitate the growth of Canadian businesses and affirm Canada’s leadership on digital and data innovation, while protecting Canadian consumers from market abuses.
- Data and Digital for Good: The Government of Canada will ensure the ethical use of data to create value, promote openness and improve the lives of people—at home and around the world.
- Strong Democracy: The Government of Canada will defend freedom of expression and protect against online threats and disinformation designed to undermine the integrity of elections and democratic institutions.
- Free from Hate and Violent Extremism: Canadians can expect that digital platforms will not foster or disseminate hate, violent extremism or criminal content.
- Strong Enforcement and Real Accountability: There will be clear, meaningful penalties for violations of the laws and regulations that support these principles.
In 2021, the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) released a report titled Waiting to Connect. Focused on the contexts of rural, remote and Indigenous communities, the report “examines the systemic issues that have resulted in a persistent connectivity gap, and the promising practices and guiding principles that can help achieve equitable connectivity”. It notes the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which further highlighted the essential role of reliable, affordable, high-quality connectivity.