The National Broadband Data and the National Broadband Map are comprehensive and precise mapping data describing retail broadband Internet services and wholesale backbone infrastructure in Canada. This data is collected in partnership between the CRTC and ISED through annual surveys and ongoing consultation with key stakeholders, including Internet service providers, federal partners, industry associations, provinces and others.
This data is collected and used for the statistical measure of broadband Internet service availability in Canada as well as the administration of various broadband related contribution programs as can be found on the Get Connected page.
The data includes two key components that collectively describe Internet service availability in Canada.
- An assessment of the availability of retail Internet Services by technology and speed. This represents an inventory of all publicly advertised and available Internet service areas by technology and speed for known facilities-based Internet Service Providers in Canada. This detailed coverage information is combined with the most up-to-date demographics (household and population information from the Census of Canada) and geospatial analytics available. To add further precision and accuracy, particularly in rural areas, the pseudo-household distribution follows Statistics Canada's Road Network map and incorporates provincial address data where available. The data collected and used internally by ISED and the CRTC is, in most cases, accurate to within 250 metres.
- An assessment of the availability of wholesale high capacity transport services within each community location in Canada. These services are of most interest to Internet Service Providers and large institutions and businesses interested in purchasing wholesale capacity. Communities with points of presence offering high capacity transport services are more likely to have affordable Internet services available to them from Internet Service Providers.
The National Broadband Map presents this information in two different formats. The first allows for a broad, national or regional view of connectivity by aggregating the information into a grid of 25km2 hexagons. A second option allows users to zoom in to view available Internet connectivity options by individual 250m road segments. This data is available for download through the Open Government portal, under the National Broadband Data dataset.
Data Downloads
Reference data sets are available through Open Government for download:
- Source data in various formats and aggregations - National Broadband Data
- Households – Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution
- Communities – Geolocated placenames in Canada
- Road segments – National Broadband Data
- Aggregated presentation – National Broadband Data
- Hexagons definition – Hexagonal Grid of Canada
- Aboriginal lands of Canada – Aboriginal Land of Canada Legislative Boundaries
- Federally Protected and Conserved Areas – Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database
About the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map
Juxtaposed to the National Broadband Map is a Layer Selector panel that enables you to display various information on the map. Options are divided in 3 main sections.
1. Rural Road Coverage
This section includes layers that reflect a road-level approximation of available and program supported retail broadband services by speed and technology. This representation is derived from the pseudo-household statistical model (described above). Road segments are produced by dividing the national road network from Statistics Canada's Road Network data into sections of approximately 250 metres. Road segments within large and medium population centres (described below) are not part of these layers.
Speeds represent thresholds being met on both the upload and download speeds listed. Only the highest threshold met is shown on the map. The top speed marker met does not exclude higher speeds from being available.
Colour Legend
This checkbox enables the display of available retail broadband service speeds by road segment. Note that this checkbox is only enabled if the map is sufficiently zoomed into a section of interest.
It is possible to display the broadband speeds by technology by selecting one of the following three radio buttons.
- Wireline only: Select this option to display broadband speeds that are distributed via a wired medium. E.g. DSL, cable, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH)
- Wireless only: Select this option to display broadband speeds that are distributed via a wireless medium. E.g. fixed wireless
- Wireline and Wireless: Select this option to display the highest available broadband speeds of all combined technologies.
Coverage represents
By choosing one or more of the following checkboxes, it is possible to toggle between currently available retail services and those which are part of government enabled projects.
This default option will display broadband speeds of existing and currently available retail services
Select this option to display the impact of ongoing government supported projects to retail broadband speeds. E.g. anticipated and improved retail broadband speeds resulting from ISED's Connect to Innovate (CTI) last-mile projects.
Select this option to display the impact of privately funded expansion commitments, which are building upon government-supported projects. E.g. private expansion of last-mile services from ISED's Connect to Innovate (CTI) backbone projects.
2. Aggregated Presentation
This section includes layers that provide a broad, national or regional view of connectivity and investment impacts by aggregating the information into a national grid of 25km2 hexagons. Individual layers are enabled or disabled using the checkbox for each. Please note that enabling too many concurrent layers may impact user experience and browser performance.
These layers reflect a hexagonal approximation of areas for which households have access to broadband services offering 50/10 Mbps or greater. This assessment is based upon detailed coverage information provided by Internet Service Providers to the CRTC and to ISED and is evaluated against the Pseudo-household Demographic Distribution, based on the 2016 Census of Canada.
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This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas for which greater than 75% of households have access to terrestrial broadband services offering 5/1 Mbps or greater. This assessment is based upon detailed coverage information provided by Internet Service Providers to the CRTC and to ISED and is evaluated against the Pseudo-household Demographic Distribution, based on the 2016 Census of Canada.
These layers provide information about government supported projects currently underway that will augment broadband connectivity in their targeted areas. Some programs are presented as separate layers, while others have been aggregated.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of Connecting Canadians Program (CCP) project coverage. Those hexagons reflect areas where the number of underserved households would be reduced by at least 25%. The CCP considered 'underserved' households which did not have access to terrestrial services offering 5/1 Mbps of service. Details on the area (hexagon) associated with the project can be found by examining the 'Area Information' tab.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas associated with Connect to Innovate (CTI) projects. This collection of areas includes those areas which might see fibre expansion, new backbone points of presence, new institutional connections and/or new last-mile services.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas associated with Connect to Innovate (CTI) projects which will offer new last mile-services. Those hexagons reflect areas where the number of underserved households would be reduced by at least 25%. The CTI program considered 'underserved' households which did not have access to terrestrial services offering 5/1 Mbps of service. Details on the area (hexagon) associated with the project can be found by examining the 'Area Information' tab.
This layer includes an approximation of new high capacity transport services (i.e. Point of Presence offering wholesale capacity) associated with Connect to Innovate (CTI) Projects. Details on the area (hexagon) associated with the project can be found by examining the 'Area Information' tab.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas associated with Connect to Innovate (CTI) projects where the beneficiary has committed to make private investments that will result in increased connectivity.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas where the CRTC has approved funding for projects under its Broadband Fund.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas where Infrastructure Canada supports ongoing broadband projects.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas where Indigenous Services Canada supports connectivity projects.
This layer reflects a hexagonal approximation of areas where Provinces and Territories supports ongoing broadband projects.
3. Other Supporting Layers
This checkbox enables the display of community points.
The map display uses clustering to the help with readability. I.e. points are grouped together depending on the zoom level of the map. A number at the centre of the community point icon indicates the count of combined points. Here is the colour and number range scheme used:
Use the radio buttons to select the set of communities you want to display.
This layer includes the reference set of place names (Geolocated placenames in Canada) and associated locations established by ISED.
This layer includes a subset of communities where available data on transport networks in Canada indicates that these communities are not connected via fibre transport technologies.
This layer includes place names (e.g. cities, villages etc.) as presented in the standard Google base map.
This layer includes communities reliant upon satellite services through the community aggregator model. This listing has been derived from the 2014 CRTC Satellite Inquiry Report and reflects service expansion to date.
This layer shows indigenous areas in Canada. Please note that this layer is a representative approximation and does not reflect the precise boundaries. This smoothing has been applied for performance reasons. For the official definition and dataset files, please refer to the Aboriginal Lands of Canada Legislative Boundaries on Open Government.
This layer shows protected and conserved areas in Canada with a focus on federally managed areas. Please note that this layer is a representative approximation and does not reflect the precise boundaries. This smoothing has been applied for performance reasons. For the official definition and dataset files, please refer to the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database page. For the purpose of the broadband map, a federal subset was created showing information about the following 5 federal agencies that manage protected areas:
- Parks Canada Agency
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
- National Capital Commission
Population centres are classified into three groups, depending on the size of their population:
These layers reflect Statistics Canada population centres (Population Centre and Rural Area Classification 2016).
Frequently Asked Questions
I believe I have more up-to-date information on high-speed Internet coverage in a specific area. How do I submit it?
You can provide your updated coverage information through the feedback form.
What projects are identified on the map?
Our map identifies projects administered by ISED under the Connecting Canadians program and the Connect to Innovate program that have a contribution agreement in place. For reference, it also identifies projects from other government departments (Indigenous Services Canada, Infrastructure Canada) and provincial/territorial governments where the information has been made available, respecting any confidentiality limitations.
There is a Connecting Canadians Program or Connect to Innovate project in my area, how can I get more information?
We encourage you to contact the project's proponent to obtain more information about this project, including the project's scope, timelines and new Internet offerings that may be available.
Why is it that there is no service at my address whilst your map indicates services are available?
Where coverage information on our map is shown by hexagons, it has been aggregated into areas of roughly 25 km2 and indicates thresholds of service availability; it is possible that not every household has access to the service indicated. Where coverage information is shown by roads, it has been aggregated by 250 metre road segments; this is significantly more detail than hexagons, but it is still possible that not every household has access to the services indicated.
Why are there incomplete lines and/or missing roads on the broadband road segments?
The broadband road coverage layer is intended to present broadband availability in rural areas. Roads in medium and large population centres have been removed. Road segments where there are no private dwellings based on the pseudo-household distribution model may also not be represented. This data will continue to be improved as ISED integrates feedback received and coverage updates in future releases.
Why can't I activate the display of road segments?
For performance reasons, you need to zoom in closer within an area in order to be able to activate the "Display these technologies" road coverage layer from the Layer Selector panel. In addition, rendering on the Internet Explorer is limited. For optimal results, we recommend that you consider using another browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
There was an update on the map. Why can't I see the change?
An update to the data that supports the map will not necessary change its rendering. In addition, it is good practice to clear your browser's cache if a recent update was made.
What are the timelines of the Connecting Canadians and the Connect to Innovate projects?
The majority of projects under the Connecting Canadians Program were completed by March 31, 2019; however, a few were granted an extension up to March 31, 2020 due to exceptional circumstances. Most projects under the Connect to Innovate Program should be completed by March 31, 2022; however, a second round of projects which were selected in 2019 are expected to be completed by March 31, 2023.
Contact us
Do you have questions? Contact us.