(Graphic by Naomi Wildeboer/Hill Times Publishing)
Feds promise Telecommunications Competition Roadmap in spring fiscal update
Regulatory | |April 29, 2026
The Liberal government’s spring economic update (SEU) included plans to introduce a new strategy for improving competition in the telecommunications sector — though many of the plan’s details remain unclear.
The new policy, announced on April 28, will be part of Ottawa’s “Whole-of-Government Competition Plan,” according to the SEU, which will apply to sectors across the Canadian economy.
“The government is also implementing a Telecommunications Competition Roadmap outlining actions to improve consumer choice, pricing, and availability of services,” read the government document.
“The Roadmap puts Canadians first, through actions that will improve choice, transparency, prices, and networks.”
However, specific details of the policy are largely yet-to-be determined.
The government emphasized that certain elements of the plan are “already underway,” including the government’s decision to uphold a CRTC ruling on mandatory wholesale access for third-party internet providers, as well as recently-issued CRTC guidelines to more easily facilitate switching internet, home phone, and cell phone plans.
Among other tenets of the roadmap, the government is promising to pursue a “dig once” policy approach to nation-building projects and further enable “emerging” satellite technologies.
Last week, the Liberals introduced Bill C-28 in the House of Commons to, among other things, give Canada sovereign space launch capabilities that would allow domestic satellite companies to launch products into orbit from home soil.
“[The plan’s] publication will allow Canadians to easily see results and keep track of ongoing efforts in the short term,” read the spring update. “Further information on the Roadmap will be provided in the coming months.”
No further details or timeline was provided.
In recent years, market studies have suggested Canada’s three largest telcos — Rogers Communications Inc., BCE INC., and Telus Corp. — account for between 80 and 90 per cent of the national market share.
In the SEU, the government re-committed to developing a national anti-fraud strategy, for which a public consultation was launched in March, which will seek feedback from “across the financial and telecommunications sectors, and digital platforms.”
Meanwhile, Ottawa is also promising to move forward with amending tax legislation to implement a “reverse charge mechanism” that would apply to certain supplies in the telecommunications sector.
This policy, originally announced in Budget 2025, is intended to limit “carousel fraud,” which refers to a tax evasion scheme where entities claim tax credits without actually remitting GST/HST.
However, the document noted, exact “legislative proposals have not yet been released.”
