Ottawa, Ontario
The Government of Canada is making every effort to ensure that telecommunications services are reliable, innovative, competitive and-most crucially-affordable. That's why the government has introduced policies that promote competition, including a recently issued new policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and continues to keep service providers accountable for their pricing.
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced the publication of the 2022 Price Comparison Study of Telecom Services, an annual report that tracks the prices for wireless and home Internet services.
The report is clear, Canada's wireless prices declined by an average of 2.6% across all levels, with declines up to 16% for the largest data plans in 2022. For home Internet, prices declined or were stable, and 11% decline was recorded for mid-range plans. The report also shows that regional competitors are offering prices up to 39% lower than the major national service providers.
In another indication of declining prices, in January 2023, Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index showed that prices for cellular services declined of almost 30% from 2019 to 2022. Despite this progress, Canadians continue to pay too much for their telecom services. More work must be done and that's why the government continues to advance policies that prioritize competition, which in turn will drive down prices and make services more affordable for Canadians.
