Good afternoon, and thank you so much for having us.
Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I'm joined today by colleagues who have already been introduced. We have Scott and Scott, to make things easier, and our senior legal counsel, Rachelle Frenette. We are very pleased to be here as the committee studies Bill C-15.
Before we get into committee members' questions, perhaps we could start with a brief overview of the CRTC and the work we are doing for Canadians.
As you know, the CRTC is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates the Canadian communications sector in the public interest. We hold public consultations on telecommunications and broadcasting matters and make decisions based on the public record.
The commission consists of nine members and we're supported by a team of expert staff that help us with decision-making.
I know that we are here to talk about Bill C-15, which makes an amendment to the Broadcasting Act, but let me begin by briefly touching on our other major line of work, which is telecommunications.
In meetings with Canadians across the country, we hear about how critical high-quality Internet and cellphone services are for employment, health care, education, connecting with loved ones and so much more. We also hear about what happens when there is a lack of meaningful connectivity, and those stories are troubling.
In 2019, the CRTC launched a broadband fund as part of a government-wide effort to help connect rural, remote and indigenous communities across Canada. Since then, we have allocated funding to projects delivering Internet and cellphone services to over 54,000 homes in over 320 communities. These projects connect critical institutions like schools, health care facilities and community centres that people rely on every single day.
The CRTC's work to improve connectivity goes hand in hand with our efforts to strengthen competition and to make telecom services more affordable. One way we are helping to provide Canadians with more choice is by allowing competitors to sell plans using the networks of the large telecommunications companies. For Internet services, more than a dozen companies are using the access granted by our framework to provide competitive plans to Canadians. For cellphone services, competitors have expanded into 88 communities across seven provinces. What does that mean? It means that there is more choice for Canadians when they are looking for Internet and cellphone plans.
We are also seeing some positive movement on prices. For example, according to StatsCan, prices for cellphone services decreased by over 37% over the past four years. At the same time, we know that networks are expensive to build and to maintain, so we put measures in place to make sure that companies keep investing.
Making sure that Canadians have access to high-quality networks and to choice is one part of the equation. The other part is making sure that we can easily find those choices and switch to plans that meet our needs.
Last year, we launched a consumer protections action plan to help protect and empower Canadians. To bring that plan to life, we initiated public proceedings dealing with everything from preventing bill shock and limiting fees to making it easier to compare offers and switch plans. We will issue those decisions in the weeks and months to come, so stay tuned.
So that is some of our work in telecommunications.
Now, let me share what we're doing in broadcasting.
As you know, through the modernized Online Streaming Act, Parliament mandated us to modernize Canada's broadcasting framework and ensure that online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and indigenous content.
Overhauling a decades-old regulatory framework is no small task. The changes that are required are substantial and complex.
One of our first key decisions required online streaming services to direct funding to areas of immediate need, such as local news on radio and television, French-language content, and indigenous content.
We're continuing to take action in areas that matter to Canadians. For example, we've issued decisions to support local news on radio and television, and we will be issuing more major decisions in the coming months.
To wrap up, we're doing work on multiple fronts. We're not finished yet, but we're helping to make real, meaningful progress.
More Canadians now have access to high-speed Internet. There are more choices when it comes to cellphone services. Stronger consumer protections are coming. As well, the broadcasting system is evolving to better reflect the Canada of today and tomorrow.
Thanks again.