I can say that our rural MPs, like you and MP Hutchings, have been instrumental in shaping the universal broadband fund. It is meant to connect the last mile of households that have yet to be connected to this essential service.
We launched it on November 9, and in a few days, the call will close. Because of investments that we made in our first mandate, by the end of 2020, tens of thousands of households had access to the Internet. By the end of this year, about a quarter of a million households will have that high-speed connection. That's above and beyond what the universal broadband fund will do.
There is a rapid response component to the UBF, as it's affectionately known in our midst. It is meant to support projects that can have shovels in the ground this construction season and wrap up by the end of this year. We expect to see tens of thousands of households getting connected through this.
Madam Chair, let me also thank this committee for the very important work that it has done in focusing on rural women. We have been applying a rural lens to the entirety of our COVID response as part of the “plus” in the GBA+ that has been sharpened. That's helped us understand particularly the realities of younger and older women in rural communities.
As this committee continues its important work, I highly encourage it to take into account the importance of early learning and child care, particularly how difficult and unique the needs will be in rural Canada. As you've heard from the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, universal early learning and child care is a priority for our government.
I know that this committee cares what happens to rural women. We can't let the mistakes of the past be repeated. In the last recession, rural women were the last to recover from COVID, particularly those with children.