Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee, thank you for your invitation to appear today.
My name is Caroline Cormier. I am the director general of Connexion Matawinie, a non-profit organization mandated by the Matawinie regional county municipality, located in the Lanaudière region of Quebec. Our mandate is to build a fibre optic network for the entire territory of Matawinie RCM to ensure that all residents, businesses and industries have access to broadband telecommunications services—in other words, high-speed Internet.
The completion of this project will require the installation of 2,700 kilometres of fibre optics in 15 municipalities. 42,500 residences and businesses will be served throughout the Matawinie RCM municipal area, which is as large as Belgium. That will give them an opportunity to have an Internet connection with a speed of up to 100 megabits per second. To my knowledge, our project is the largest one undertaken by an RCM in Quebec so far.
The cost of our project to build a fibre optic network is estimated at $60 million. Despite a number of studies and the inability of major telecommunications service providers to provide the required broadband Internet access throughout our territory, our project was rejected, as it was too big. Therefore, the council of mayors of the Matawinie RCM decided, in 2016, to carry out a feasibility study.
Now, the Quebec department of municipal affairs and housing has provided a $60-million loan. That loan must be reimbursed over 25 years, which will be done in part using royalties from telecommunications service providers and municipal taxes paid by local citizens.
It is inconceivable that, in 2020, a number of regions like mine have no access to a reliable Internet service. The Matawinie RCM is among the poorest in Quebec and its economic vitality is fairly weak. More than 6% of its population was living below the poverty line in 2015.
Every week, business owners and citizens from the region share problems that their Internet access causes them. Here are a few examples. A graphic designer must drive for 45 minutes to Joliette, the closest urban centre, to send files to a client. A business owner specializing in digital marketing has been unable to work since she decided to live in the country. A manufacturing company cannot compete for international jobs simply because it cannot automate its factory. Some tourist companies cannot accept online payments, and that is reducing tourist access to our region, which is quite pretty, by the way.
In addition, the region's changing demographics and the exodus of young people are seen as inevitable. After high school, those young people leave the region to continue their studies, and only 5% of them return to live in Matawinie. We cannot attract newcomers because we don't have Internet access, which complicates workforce retention. We are also unable to attract vacationers, even though our region has a lot of cottages and offers many tourist activities. Those people could not live in Matawinie full time even if they wanted to because Internet access is lacking.
Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about COVID-19. Many businesses in Canada will have to ask their employees to work from home. Unfortunately, telework is practically impossible in Matawinie, as very few people have that option in the RCM.
The region's economic future is dependent on broadband Internet access, as that would mean increased productivity for the region, not only for businesses, but also for citizens. Better Internet access will help revitalize our region's economy and will enable our young people to receive a distance education and our citizens to become better educated.
Despite a number of technical obstacles we are experiencing with the major telecommunications service providers, we need financial support to carry out this project. So far, the funding is coming through the Quebec program Régions branchées and the broadband fund. We are competing directly with major telecommunications companies, but they do not provide that service to our region's entire population.
Additional funding will help us lighten our citizens' financial burden and enhance our region's vitality. We must not forget that the average age of our citizens is currently 48 years and that more than 6% of the population is living below the poverty line.
Our objective is to enable the Matawinie citizens to have the world at their fingertips. As a non-profit organization, however, we are competing with major telecommunications service providers, which have priority in terms of funding.
In closing, thank you for your invitation. I would be happy to answer your questions.