Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Perth—Wellington for asking that important question.
Let us rest assured that our government has a plan and that we have put resources to that plan. Our government is committed to the needs of rural Canada. When the government develops a plan on infrastructure, such as the Investing in Canada plan, we design it with these objectives in mind.
The plan was designed to invest in our economy, to help Canada shift to a green economy and to help the middle class and workers who want to join it. That plan is the invest in Canada plan.
The Investing in Canada plan does all of these through its five dedicated investment streams, including rural economic development for communities. In fact, the plan includes $2 billion in dedicated funds for rural and northern communities.
We have also boosted our support for approved infrastructure projects in those communities that are cost-shared with territories and indigenous communities. To support small communities and municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents, the federal portion of projects shared with the provinces rose from 33% to 60%. That is a significant increase.
For communities in the territories, the federal share of project funding can be up to 75%.
Since the minister's appointment, Canada's new Minister of Rural Economic Development has been hard at work, meeting with Canadians in communities across the country. We are meeting and engaging with members of these rural communities to hear them and to find out how their communities can succeed and thrive. We are examining what we've heard and are working with other departments as a whole-of-government approach to develop a broader strategy that will support rural economic development all across Canada.
Part of the new Minister of Rural Economic Development's mandate is to increase high-speed broadband coverage in rural Canada. This will position rural Canada for the success of the digital economy. Access to high-speed Internet is critically important to the success of large and medium-sized businesses. We know that regardless of where people live, high-speed Internet is needed in order to get Canadian products to global markets.
Reliable high-speed Internet will give rural Canadians access to better health care, education and government services. It will also allow them to stay in contact with their friends and family around the world.
In fact, budget 2019 includes our commitment to ensure that all Canadians have access by 2030, as the member mentioned, but also significant investments in broadband infrastructure will connect 90% of households by 2021. Our government is leveraging the funding from a number of sources to meet that commitment.
Also, we have the universal broadband fund, the connect to innovate program, the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the CRTC and others. Our government is working closely with the provinces and territories to develop a strategy that will benefit all Canadians.
It is important to work with provinces and municipalities to develop a strategy that will meet the needs of rural communities in Canada.
It is very important to continue working, and we have put that money in budget 2019 to look at working closely with the municipalities and the provinces.