Canada Infrastructure Bank lends $8.1 million for Arrow broadband in 20 Indigenous and 4 rural communities

The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and Arrow Technology Group formalized an agreement for the CIB to lend $8.1 million toward broadband serving 20 Indigenous and 4 rural communities in Alberta, under the CIB's Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative. The communities include First Nations in Treaty 8 and Treaty 6 and Métis Settlements. The CIB described it as its first investment toward infrastructure gaps in Métis communities.

The build is a fibre-optic backbone plus "last mile" projects to connect homes. The CIB says the service offers minimum speeds of 50/10 Mbps with unlimited data. Arrow is responsible for construction, installation, operations and maintenance. The loan sits on top of grants from the Universal Broadband Fund Rapid Response Stream, the CRTC Broadband Fund and Connect to Innovate.

The CIB's stated reason is cost: low population density makes each connection expensive, and lower-cost financing lets the network expand faster while keeping prices affordable for customers.

Sources

• Canada Infrastructure Bank news release

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