Liberal MP and Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger made the announcement Friday in Prince Albert. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

broadband

Feds announce $105 million high-speed internet investment in Sask.

Jul 4, 2025 | 2:38 PM

The federal government has announced a $105 million investment into high-speed internet in Saskatchewan.

During a press conference Friday in Prince Albert, Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River MP and Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger stated the funding will go towards three projects in partnership with SaskTel. These projects will bring high-speed internet access to 6,522 households in 35 rural and remote communities across the province, including over 4,800 Indigenous households.

“What we wanted to do as a new government under Prime Minister Carney, we made a promise to build Canada and reliable, high-speed internet access in part of that Canadian rural economy and that’s one of the reasons why we are making this investment in Saskatchewan,” he said.

“This is part of a larger $3.2 billion support package we announced under the Universal Broadband Fund and it really impacts and affects all of Canada.”

The federal government has a goal of connecting 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed Internet by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030. It is meant to open access to important online resources, connect friends and family, and enable economic opportunity.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Catching up with Jeremy Harrison: What's next for power, internet in northwest Sask.

Aug 01, 2025

Tariffs

Saskatchewan exports still mostly tariff-free under CUSMA: Moe

Aug 01, 2025

Riderville

Unlike Figure Skating there are no points awarded in football for artistic impressions

Aug 01, 2025

“In 2017, when the initiative was underway, there was roughly 45.4 per cent of the people in Saskatchewan connected to the high-speed internet,” Belanger remarked.

“In 2023, that number jumped to 84.4 [per cent] and next year with this announcement, it’s going to be 90.4 [per cent], and by 2030, 100 per cent, so Saskatchewan is ahead of many other jurisdictions.”

The Liberals have a goal of 100 per cent high-speed Internet across Canada by 2030. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

The following is the list of communities divided between the three SaskTel projects:

Hall Lake (Lac La Ronge Indian Band), One Arrow First Nation, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, Sturgeon Lake First Nation, Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, Stony Rapids, Wollaston Lake and Lac La Hache (Hatchet Lake First Nation), Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation, and Chitek Lake (Pelican Lake First Nation).

Red Earth Cree Nation, Cote First Nation, Denare Beach, James Smith Cree Nation, Shoal Lake Cree Nation, Sandy Bay and the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation communities of Pelican Narrows, Sturgeon Weir, Amiskosakahikan, and Wapaskokimaw.

Big Island Lake Cree Nation, Dore Lake, Green Lake, Kinistin Saulteaux Nation, Sled Lake, Southend (Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation), Sweetgrass First Nation, Thunderchild First Nation, and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band communities of Grandmother’s Bay.

–

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com