Why Canada’s Internet Costs Are So High (2025 Report)
October 11, 2025
Canadians pay some of the highest Internet prices in the world, and while the reasons are complex, they aren’t mysterious. From wholesale access fees to market consolidation and clever pricing tactics, the system has been structured to reward scale rather than competition. Here’s a data-driven look at what’s really driving those high monthly bills, and how smaller providers are trying to change it.
The Big Picture: High Prices, Limited Competition
Canada consistently ranks among the five most expensive countries for broadband in the developed world, according to OECD broadband statistics.
The CRTC’s 2024 Communications Monitoring Report found that average monthly Internet bills have increased by nearly 8% in just two years, even as the cost of delivering service, through shared infrastructure, has remained relatively flat.
At a household level, that means the typical Canadian family now spends between $85 and $110 per month for high-speed Internet that, in many other countries, would cost half as much.
Why Prices Stay High (Even When Costs Don’t)
1. Structural Advantage for Large Carriers
Canada’s telecom market is dominated by a few large players, primarily Bell, Rogers, Telus, and in Quebec, Videotron (Quebecor). These companies own the physical fiber and coaxial networks that most Canadians depend on. Smaller ISPs lease access through CRTC-regulated wholesale agreements.
Those wholesale rates, while designed to ensure competition, still heavily favor incumbents. Large carriers control the upgrade cycle, the infrastructure, and much of the retail market — allowing them to maintain pricing power even as technology improves.
As one telecom analyst told The Globe and Mail, “Canada’s broadband market is structured to reward scale, not competition.”
2. “Profit Efficiency” Tactics
In recent years, major carriers have introduced new ways to quietly increase margins.
Some now require AutoPay enrollment to access their lowest advertised rates. AutoPay can save providers up to 2% in processing fees, yet those savings are rarely passed on to consumers.
At the same time, the industry has seen a steady wave of acquisitions, large telcos buying smaller independents. Each deal adds subscriber volume and revenue, while reducing consumer choice. Recent examples include Bell’s acquisition of Distributel (Primus) and Telus’ purchase of Start.ca.
3. Lack of Effective Market Pressure
With fewer true independents left, the remaining ISPs face high wholesale costs and limited flexibility to lower prices further. The result: a market that appears competitive but behaves like an oligopoly.
Why New Entrants Won’t Fix It Anytime Soon
Every few years, talk resurfaces about a major new carrier entering Canada to “shake up” the telecom market, often an American company rumored to be eyeing expansion north of the border. The reality is far less exciting.
Building a nationwide network from scratch would cost billions of dollars and take years, if not decades. To compete with incumbents, a new provider would need to physically connect millions of homes, which means securing municipal permits, digging up streets to lay fiber or coaxial cable, and deploying thousands of access nodes. The financial barrier is enormous, and Canada’s population density makes it even harder to justify the investment outside major cities.
As a result, most newcomers either lease capacity from existing carriers (becoming resellers rather than true competitors) or look to bypass the ground entirely like Starlink, the satellite Internet service operated by SpaceX. While Starlink has opened access for rural and remote communities, satellite connections come with high latency, bandwidth constraints, and weather interference, making them less practical for urban customers or for mobile/voice service at scale.
Until someone is willing and able to fund a fully independent national network, Canada’s broadband market will continue to rely on the same physical infrastructure controlled by a few dominant players.
“Any new entrant would face the same hard reality,” says one industry analyst. “You can’t disrupt a market when you still depend on your competitors’ networks.”
The Real Cost of Delivering Internet in Canada
Even without the marketing and billing layers, Internet delivery isn’t cheap. Much of your monthly bill goes toward network access fees, regulatory costs, and infrastructure maintenance.
Where Your Internet Dollar Goes (average for smaller ISPs)
Category
Approximate Share
Wholesale Network Access (leased lines)
60–65%
Equipment, Shipping & Setup
15–20%
Customer Support & Operations
10–15%
Margin (sustainability & reinvestment)
5–10%
Smaller ISPs like NetJOI often pay wholesale access fees that consume well over half of every dollar a customer spends before factoring in support or equipment. That’s why independent providers can’t simply undercut big-carrier pricing by 50%, but can offer fairer long-term value through transparent pricing and better service.
To put that into perspective, here’s how a typical Canadian Internet dollar is distributed when you subscribe through a smaller ISP:
Roughly 63% of every payment goes to wholesale access fees, the cost of leasing network infrastructure from national carriers like Bell or Rogers. About 17% covers equipment such as modems and shipping, 12% supports customer care and technical operations, and only around 8% remains as margin.
It’s a structure that explains why independents fight hard to deliver fair pricing as there simply isn’t much room for markups once the wholesale costs are paid.
The Human Cost of Connectivity
For many Canadians, Internet access isn’t optional. It’s a lifeline for work, education, healthcare, and staying connected.
Yet as prices rise faster than wages, broadband affordability is becoming a national issue. In rural and Atlantic regions especially, limited infrastructure and fewer provider choices mean customers pay more for slower speeds.
And while the federal government’s Connecting Canadians initiative aims for universal broadband by 2030, coverage gaps remain especially outside major cities.
How Smaller Providers Help Balance the Market
Independent ISPs bring flexibility and fairness to the table. Without massive marketing budgets or layers of bureaucracy, they compete through transparency, digital-first support, and customer care.
Because they use existing backbone networks, their efficiency comes from operations, not corner-cutting.
For example, in Nova Scotia, NetJOI’s JOI 100 plan is $59.95/month, and in Ontario, the JOI 75 plan is $58.95/month both month-to-month with locked-in pricing and no contract gimmicks.
Compare the real cost — look at regular (post-promo) rates, not first-year discounts.
Avoid long-term contracts when possible. Flexibility matters more than small short-term savings.
Support independent ISPs that focus on service and stability. Even a modest shift in market share can improve competition.
Question AutoPay requirements and other fine print that affect billing flexibility.
Providers like NetJOI represent a growing alternative prioritizing clarity, locked-in pricing, and service over gimmicks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Internet so expensive in Canada? Because the same few companies own both the retail brands and the underlying network infrastructure. Wholesale access costs and limited competition keep prices high.
Do smaller ISPs offer cheaper service? Yes, but within limits. Independents like NetJOI lease access at regulated wholesale rates that make up most of the cost, so their advantage comes from transparent pricing and customer service rather than deep discounts.
Which provinces have the best Internet prices? Typically Ontario and Alberta, where multiple cable and fiber options overlap. Atlantic Canada and rural regions face higher average rates due to limited infrastructure.
