The federal and B.C. governments are providing more than $77 million in combined funding to bring high-speed internet to more than 6,900 homes in the province.
A statement from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada says the funding is part of an agreement struck in 2022 that committed up to $830 million to bridge the high-speed gap in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.
The department says the latest funding will support 15 projects through the Universal Broadband Fund.
In addition to the jointly funded projects, it says the federal government is providing $7 million to bring a high-speed connection to 727 households in the communities of Hullcar, Spallumcheen and the Splatsin First Nation.
It will also bring cellular connectivity to more than 120 kilometres of road in the area east of Kamloops in B.C.'s southern Interior.
The projects also cover the communities of 70 Mile House, Savona, Cache Creek, Ashcroft and Clinton, as well as the Skeetchestn Indian Band, Bonaparte First Nation and Nuchatlaht First Nation, among others.
The federal department says 95.8 per cent of B.C. households are connected to high-speed internet, a number that is expected to rise to 97.8 per cent next year.
It says Ottawa is on track to meet its goal of providing high-speed internet access to 98 per cent of all households in Canada by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jenny Kane
