Ottawa says it will uphold a ruling by Canada's telecommunications regulator allowing the country's largest internet companies to provide service to customers using fibre networks built by their rivals — as long as they do so outside their core regions.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement Wednesday evening that the CRTC's policy "will immediately allow for more competition on existing networks for high-speed internet services across the country."

"Their decision to uphold the mandatory wholesale access framework was based on extensive consultation with experts, the Competition Bureau and over 300 public submissions," Joly said in the statement, posted on X.

"To that end, the government is declining to alter the CRTC's decision to expand mandatory wholesale access."

CRTC

See Full Page