We will show you the best cheapest way to set … This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. All the rest, big or small, we'll measure in a separate chart as long as they had at least 100 tests provided by our readers using the PCMag Speed Test. According to last year's Canada's Internet Factbook, 86 percent of Canadians have broadband at home, and over 85 percent are more than satisfied with the speed they get. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. This year, the best is across the St. Lawrence in the neighboring city of Lévis, which features an unparalled PSI of 413.1 thanks to a multitude of connections from Bell Canada's Fibe customers. Counting morer than 2 million users, Bell Canada is the clear winner of the major ISPs category. Bell's decision to cut back spending is a political move designed to play on fears, said John Lawford, executive director and general counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. The study found 90 per cent of all customers were generally satisfied with their internet provider, while customers of independent providers were more likely to be very satisfied. And while it did once again make a significant stride upward in it's PCMag Speed Index score, going from 87.9 to 110.9, it wasn't enough. Rogers Communication said it was disappointed by the CRTC's ruling and it was reviewing all future investment in rural and remote communities in light of the $140-million charge expected by the decision. As we've seen in previous years, the list is still mainly towns in Ontario and Quebec. Thus, we don't have enough of them with over 100 tests to include. If your ISP is missing from our results, go run a PCMag Speed Test today. Also, our data doesn't even differentiate Bell Canada's different offerings from fibre down to DSL copper connections—yet still, with a potential mix of fast and slow connections, they beat the rest. Rogers clung to the top spot for the most part through 2017. While using your monthly allotment you'll get download speeds of around 150 Mbps in most urban centres with average downloads around 41-57 Mbps (according to OpenSignal). It probably eases Aliant's fears that its owner is the one most likely to do the beating next year, if that happens. Results are only shown for ISPs or locations (or ISPs in specific locations) that had at least 100 tests. This was the second-lowest of any of the provinces, only ahead of Manitoba's 49.9 PSI. Much of this list is occupied by the same major ISPs you see in the first chart. Your choices for the fastest throughput in the land are the same, and they're faster than ever before. He said the company will still make profits by selling infrastructure access to smaller providers, and could still afford to continue the high-speed expansion to less profitable rural areas. We also, once again, don't have enough response from Prince Edward Island, the only one of the 10 provinces for which we don't have data. We should all live in a place with such ISP rivalry. The exception is the hamlet of De Winton, Alberta, in the last slot. That's a testament either to big companies moving into smaller suburbs, or small companies with fast fibre options increasing their customer base. Yet perhaps the people living in Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories are doing something more stimulating than shopping at Amazon.ca. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. In fact, many are so far down, they barely register. The rest of the major ISPs saw increases in their score with the exception of Videotron, which went down about five points, and Cogeco, which dropped a half point. The other ISP that beat Rogers this year now falls just barely into that "all ISPs" category, as Bell Aliant has under 500,000 subscribers. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. Once you hit that data cap, Rogers, Bell … ALL ISPs Bell Aliant Aliant is all about the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, providing service there even as it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada itself. The regulator requires that large telecom companies like Bell and Rogers sell access to their infrastructure to smaller internet providers as a way to improve competition and lower prices. That number makes it easy to perform an at-a-glance determination of exactly which ISP is the fastest, as well as make quick comparisons to results from previous years. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. The Competition Bureau said it was important to set wholesale rates at the right level to ensure there are still incentives for the major providers to invest in infrastructure, while also giving opportunities for smaller players. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Curious about the top ISPs in the individual provinces? Unlike with our US results, we don't get as much response from users of small, ultra-fast ISPs. The battle for the top spot in Canada usually boils down to two companies: cable provider Rogers, and Bell Canada. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. The darker red indicates faster speeds above; hold your cursor over a province to see it's PCMag Speed Index rating. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. For instance, new to the list this year in fifth place is Communicate Freely, a small locally owned fibre ISP in Port Perry, Ontario. "If they dug a little deeper in their pockets they could keep those marginal people on if they really believed in rural areas, but they don't. None of them could eek into the list this year. We look at the average throughput up and down, recorded in kilobits per second, which we divide by 1,000 to get to Megabits per second, or Mbps. Canada's broadband internet service providers (ISPs) are working hard to provide great service, and, as our results show, faster speeds all the time. But Aliant's customers are certainly the happiest in the land, with a speed index of 134.8 that can't be beat. Bell scales back rural internet plans after CRTC decision on rates, It's a Canadian thing: Why big phone companies still dominate internet services amid cheaper options, CRTC could allow access to Big 3 wireless networks for small competitors, CRTC lowers wholesale broadband rates to boost competition among providers, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. We'll include your tests in future versions of the Fastest ISPs in Canada. https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-fastest-isps-of-2019-canada, Eric has been writing about tech for 28 years. Those that do make the cut either really embraced our test, or have a growing audience. Bell Canada says it will cut about 200,000 rural households from a broadband internet build-out to offset the impact of a regulatory change that lowers the wholesale broadband rate it can charge smaller providers. Not that Bell Canada can afford to rest on its maple-leaf laurels. This is all very impressive, considering that Bell Canada was only in sixth place on this list back in 2017. Take a look at the fastest ISPs in the country this year, and we'll fill you in on the rest below. Our interactive chart above lets you compare 2019 vs. 2018 with a click on the tabs. Compare Bell and Rogers TV Packages and Pricing TV Package Optimizer. He said the CRTC didn't give a discount to independent service providers, it just corrected a price that had been too high based on the regulator's criteria. That said, it's interesting to see the scores available in the other nine. He said rural internet expansion, which is already subsidized by the government, isn't really related to the CRTC decision last week to set lower broadband wholesale rates. Many Managers Disagree, The Most Watched Movies on Netflix This Week, The Most Watched Shows on Netflix This Week. The competition in the Atlantic provinces appears to be fierce for fastness. Last year, the fastest PCMag Speed Index came out of Québec City, with an excellent 371.7 PSI. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. Bell's "Fibe" is only fiber to the neighborhood, phone line to the house. That village's combo of customers from Telus and Shaw with fast connections make it a worthy spot, if you want to live among only a couple thousand people slightly south of Calgary. Bell Canada says it will cut roughly 200,000 households from a rural internet expansion program after a federal regulator lowered wholesale broadband prices that major telecom companies can charge smaller internet providers. Your subscription has been confirmed. Rogers, Bell and Telus: All three carriers offer a fixed amount of high speed 4G-LTE data. That's not simply Canadian politeness at work. So is Toronto-based Carry Telecom, aka Carrytel (though the latter made a brief appearance in our Best Gaming ISPs of 2019-Canada feature). © 1996-2020 Ziff Davis, LLC. The same states are in the lead, headed east to west, but you can see how the speeds have gone up in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. A Competition Bureau study released in early August found CRTC rules that allow smaller providers to buy access to networks have created more choice for consumers and increased competition, though rural and remote customers have fewer options. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. The major telecom companies have long threatened that infrastructure investments could be impacted by lower broadband access rates. It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Bell says the latest decision means the rural expansion program will be cut back to a million households from 1.2 million across Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. This is the first year we're doing something for our Canadian results that we've done for a long while with the US Fastest ISP results: we're splitting them. After years of review, the CRTC set final wholesale rates last week that were up to 77 per cent lower than the interim rates set in 2016. The only province with a net loss in speed is Québec, which had a 97.3 PSI in 2018, but dropped to a 65.7 this year. No idea what Rogers is like, but with Bell I typically get … So it's more accurate to say phone line vs. TV cable. The company said that in response, it will cut back by 20 per cent on a rural internet program designed to provide wireless internet access to homes that are hard to reach by fibre or traditional cable access. With Bell Canada's investment in fibre, it has pushed speeds up and up, hitting a 122.1 PSI this year. "If Bell was counting on charging too high a price for these services to wholesale ISPs as a way to fund rural broadband, that doesn't make a lot of sense.". They're using them as a pawn, so that's why it's sickening to me.". By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. The fastest cities change frequently, but it is a good indicator of where the top ISPs are building the best infrastructure to keep customers happy. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. We don't get enough response from the low-population northern territories to include in our story, ever. To create this story we used results from 43,552 tests taken between June 1, 2018, and June 17, 2019, all using our PCMag Speed Test. The other ISP that beat Rogers this year now falls just barely into that "all ISPs" category, as Bell Aliant has under 500,000 subscribers. Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. MAJOR ISPs Bell Canada Now in its second year atop this list, Bell Canada's investment in fibre-to-the-home (under the Fibe brand) continues to pay off, especially for its 2 million-plus customers in central Canada.