The Municipality of North Grenville is committed to bringing better connectivity to all residents and businesses. The need for a better broadband network in North Grenville has been made more apparent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the summer of 2020 Mayor Peckford began meeting with citizens concerned about the local internet situation. She connected several residents who formed a citizen-led committee. The Municipality began offering free access to internet for students in the fall of 2020 as local youth struggled to access coursework during the pandemic.

The Municipality began a campaign in the summer of 2020 to garner information concerning residents’ experiences with internet. A survey was distributed, and households were able to take part in a speed test. The results showed that most residents desire better service and have speeds below 50/10.

Broadband Study

On March 16, 2021, Council directed staff to initiate a broadband study. Storm and CIP CommTech were selected to complete the study. They conducted a broadband needs assessment by gathering, evaluating, and analyzing broadband information and broadband-dependent needs from residents and businesses.

A local broadband market assessment was conducted by identifying existing broadband options and costs across the community. The study reviewed the various types of service and providers available in the Municipality. The study also details challenges internet service providers (ISPs) face in expanding infrastructure. There is also a section detailing funding opportunities, including an indication of successful projects through the Universal Broadband Fund Rapid Response program.

The study provides several strategic priorities for the Municipality to focus on moving forward. Read the final Municipality of North Grenville Broadband Study 2021

Next Steps and Updates

Staff are working on actioning the strategic priorities identified in the Broadband Study, including investigating best practices for partnerships with ISPs, meeting with ISPs to better determine their needs, providing letters of support for funding, informing residents about community builds, and bettering communications regarding broadband initiatives. 

Update – September 25, 2023

• Bell has been awarded funding to build in North Grenville.
• Xplore has been awarded funding to build in North Grenville.
• Rogers announced a community build in October 2021 and regularly submit municipal consent applications.
• View the interactive map that shows the locations of the two publicly funded builds.
• A Municipal Access Agreement (MAA) has been executed with Rogers, and is in progress with the two ISPs who received funding.
• The Municipality continues to provide municipal consent to projects proposed by ISPs.
• The newly adopted Engineering Standards (which layout requirements for developers) require developers to work with at least two ISPs as part of their site plan and encourage them to allow access to smaller ISPs.
• Analysis was completed comparing local speeds with the reported available speeds promoted by ISPs. Only 50% of local testing shows satisfactory speed test results. This is important because the reported available speeds are what the federal and provincial governments use to decide funding. Provincial staff confirmed our analysis and have reported this to Innovation, Science an Economic Development Canada (ISED).
• Residents who wish to run speed tests, are encouraged to use the following website: https://performance.cira.ca/ This information is used by the federal government to inform mapping and funding availability.