High-speed internet coming to 113 households in rural Vaughan and East Gwillimbury

The new internet service will be in the Stephanie Boulevard area in Vaughan and the Callwood Court area in East Gwillimbury

Yorkregion.com
July 5, 2021
Simon Martin

Good internet is a hot commodity. Some residents in East Gwillimbury and Vaughan are happy after the federal government announced that it is investing over $192,000 through the Universal Broadband Fund to bring high-speed internet to residents of rural communities in East Gwillimbury and Vaughan in a partnership with Bell. The projects will connect 113 underserved households with 69 in Vaughan and 44 in East Gwillimbury.

The East Gwillimbury portion of the project will provide fibre-based, high-speed internet to 44 underserved homes in the Callwood Court area of Ward 3.

“With so many families working and learning from home this past year, the need for access to reliable and affordable internet has never been greater. This funding announcement allows us to get closer to our goal of expanding broadband services to all residents and businesses across our community,” Mayor Virginia Hackson said. “We are pleased with this great step and will continue to work with internet service providers, like Bell, to make it as easy as possible to expand broadband in EG.”

The town's broadband working liaison, Ward 3 Coun. Scott Crone, said the announcement was a testament to collaboration. "I look forward to continuing to work with the Broadband Working Group and municipal staff to achieve our vision for complete connectivity that will support service delivery, economic growth and community participation," he said.

The Vaughan portion of the project will be located in the Stephanie Boulevard area.

The Universal Broadband Fund was launched on Nov. 9, 2020. Projects funded under the now $2.75-billion UBF, as well as through other public and private investments, will help connect 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2026 and achieve the national target of 100 per cent connectivity by 2030.

Bell will receive $48,800 to connect 44 households in East Gwillimbury and $143,800 to connect 69 households in Vaughan.

"Canadians’ access to high-speed internet should not depend on their postal code, so the Government of Canada has made expanding access to high-speed internet a top priority,” said King-Vaughan MP and Minister of Seniors Deb Schulte.