LAKELAND – Over the last decade internet access has become an essential amenity.
The extent to which broadband connectivity impacts Albertans was made even clearer during two years of students moving between in-school and at-home learning as a result of the pandemic.
Now, access to bandwidth in rural areas has become top of mind for the Lakeland Catholic School Division (LCSD) and its board of trustees who agreed to pen a letter to several provincial and federal ministries on the matter.
During a regular Lakeland Catholic board meeting on Nov. 16, Superintendent Pamela Guilbault told trustees that she heard of cases where parents living in rural areas were required to drive to town for their children to download and upload school materials and assignments during periods when classes were moved online.
For Lakeland Catholic trustee members, the need for students to be able to access high-speed internet has become paramount to educational instruction, especially for rural students who may be impacted by bus cancellations due to inclement weather or for any other reasons that keeps them from attending class.
A letter from the board will be sent to the Minister of Education, Adriana LaGrange, advocating prompt consideration be given to establishing more broadband in rural areas of Cold Lake, Bonnyville and Lac La Biche, including local First Nation and Métis communities.
Letters will also be sent to Nate Glubish the Minister of Service Alberta, Nate Horner the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development, and Gudie Hutchings the federal Minister of Rural Economic Development.
Northeast left out of first round of broadband strategy
Lakeland Catholic trustee Vicky Lefebvre noted that communities in the province’s northeast region did not make the list of 50 communities to receive broadband funding in the first round of approved projects in the Alberta Broadband Strategy.
The Alberta Broadband Strategy is the result of a collaborative effort between the provincial and federal governments to eliminate the digital divide.
Over the next four year, $780 million will be invested into broadband infrastructure to improve access to high-speed internet in rural and remote areas, as well as Indigenous communities through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF).
“Additional announcements will be made as the government continues to evaluate hundreds of projects to determine which ones can best help accomplish the government’s goal of universal connectivity,” states the Alberta government’s website.
“Our students could be missing out on an opportunity because they haven't looked at our areas,” said Lefebvre, during the November meeting.
“The principle is that you don't want people driving into town to try and get an internet connection because they need to be able to access it from where they live.”
Both the federal and provincial governments intend to deliver universal connectivity in Alberta by the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year, with the fourth and final round of construction projects slated to begin in the spring and summer of 2024.
More broadband projects on the books
Both levels of government are also investing in wireless broadband infrastructure for First Nations located within the province. The projects are funded under the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream of the Investing of Canada Infrastructure Program.
The conditional funding will be dependant on federal requirements regarding Indigenous consultation and environmental impact assessments.
The Canadian and Alberta government have stated that providing communities with reliable and sustainable infrastructure is a priority.
A project for Saddle Lake Cree Nation will receive more than $2.6 million in federal funding. The project will upgrade the internet and cellular infrastructure for the Nation, which will improve the resilience of broadband and cellular connectivity.
Cold Lake First Nations' reserves will also benefit from another project receiving $241,544 in federal funding. This project will install Long Term Evolution equiptment on both existing and new towers.
*With files from Clare Gauvreau
