Policy direction to the CRTC for competition, affordability, consumer rights and universal access

The Government of Canada has issued a new policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to put in place new rules to improve competition and support consumers, leading to lower prices and better telecommunications services for Canadians. The CRTC is an independent administrative tribunal that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada.

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Mission statement

The Government of Canada is making every effort to ensure that telecommunications services are innovative, competitive, reliable and—most crucially—affordable for all Canadians. That's why the government is renewing its approach for increased competition with a direction to the CRTC to create a more effective regulatory framework, improve consumer rights, advance universal access and improve the timeliness of regulation. The direction outlines key policy goals to ensure that Canada's telecommunications networks are able to support the latest innovative applications, that they are available to all Canadians regardless of where they live or work and, especially, that prices are affordable.

The policy direction outlines in clear terms the government's priorities for these essential services, and the CRTC is responsible for implementation. Moving forward, this policy direction will apply generally to all of the CRTC's telecommunications decisions and activities.

Consultations

The proposed direction was open for public consultation for 45 days, from June 4, 2022, to July 19, 2022, and was tabled before both Houses of Parliament for 40 sitting days. Provinces and territories were also consulted. The CRTC was consulted both on the proposed policy direction and on the final version.

The consultations resulted in changes to clarify, improve and strengthen the final policy direction to best achieve the government's policy goals. Submissions from all parties were considered in making these changes, and the public comments are available on Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's website.