CRTC clears $12.9M fibre project connecting 25 rural Saskatchewan communities
The CRTC has given final approval to the work plan for a major rural fibre project in western Saskatchewan.
Access Communications will receive up to $12.89 million from the CRTC Broadband Fund to build approximately:
• 350 km of fibre infrastructure
• 36 network points of presence
• High-capacity transport serving 25 communities
• Infrastructure benefiting roughly 3,555 households and 11 anchor institutions
The communities include Thunderchild First Nation, Turtle Lake, Livelong, Metinota, Vawn and several smaller lake and rural communities in western Saskatchewan.
This funding was originally approved in November 2025. Today’s decision is different: the CRTC has now approved the detailed statement of work, allowing the project to move into its funded implementation phase.
The CRTC also granted Access Communications some unusual flexibility because it is a community-owned non-profit co-operative.
Instead of waiting for quarterly reimbursements, Access can submit claims as often as monthly and can claim eligible costs once they are incurred rather than waiting until they are fully paid.
The approved completion date is December 2028.
The infrastructure must also offer wholesale and retail open access at funded network points, meaning other providers can potentially use the new transport network too.
Sources:
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2026/2026-264.htm
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2025/2025-295.htm
