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The CRTC required Bell, TELUS and SaskTel to provide eligible competitors with regulated wholesale access to their fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks by February 13, 2025. That can give independent and regional internet providers a way to sell service over incumbent fibre, but it does not guarantee that service at every address—or a lower bill. In April 2026, the CRTC set final rates for several key wholesale services; those charges are costs to providers, not retail plan prices.
What the CRTC ordered
The core requirement comes from Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180, issued August 13, 2024. It requires covered telephone companies to offer competitors aggregated wholesale high-speed access over FTTP facilities in their incumbent serving territories, subject to exceptions. The implementation deadline for Bell, Bell Aliant, Bell MTS, SaskTel and TELUS was February 13, 2025, except where temporary access was already in place.
Wholesale access is different from an incumbent selling a retail plan. The network owner continues to operate the fibre connection; a competing internet service provider (ISP) buys access under CRTC-regulated terms, then sells and bills its own retail service. The CRTC’s Telecom Order 2026-77 addresses the tariffs and terms for this aggregated FTTP service. It does not require an incumbent to transfer fibre ownership or give competitors unrestricted access to every fibre strand.
Aggregated access lets a competitor connect at an aggregation point and use the incumbent’s access network to reach a customer. It is not the same as disaggregated access, which involves more localized interconnection and is treated separately. A wholesale obligation also does not mean every independent ISP has the commercial agreement, technical integration or service offering needed to connect every eligible address.
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Which companies and areas are covered?
The mandate covers Bell and its relevant operating companies, TELUS and SaskTel—not only the two carriers named in the original headline. The final-rate order names Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, Bell MTS, SaskTel and TELUS. In broad terms, Bell Canada serves Ontario and Quebec, Bell Aliant covers Atlantic Canada, Bell MTS operates in Manitoba, SaskTel serves Saskatchewan, and TELUS is principally relevant in Alberta and British Columbia, with separate arrangements for its Quebec operations. Coverage is governed by serving territories and tariff terms, not province-wide guarantees.
The 2024 policy did not impose the same new aggregated FTTP obligation on cable carriers. The CRTC said cable companies already had wholesale-access obligations over their cable networks and that their fibre deployments did not justify an additional FTTP obligation at that time. This does not mean cable providers have no wholesale obligations; it means they are not covered by this particular new fibre mandate.
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How the mandate developed
- November 6, 2023: Telecom Decision 2023-358 established temporary aggregated FTTP access for competitors over Bell and TELUS networks in Ontario and Quebec.
- May 7, 2024: Temporary access in that initial framework was available no later than this date.
- August 13, 2024: The CRTC issued Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180, extending the framework and setting the five-year protection for qualifying new fibre builds.
- February 13, 2025: The deadline for the covered carriers to offer aggregated FTTP in incumbent territories where temporary access was not already available.
- February 2026: In Telecom Decision 2026-29, the CRTC addressed disclosure of wholesale-fibre availability locations to Quebecor and Rogers. Bell and TELUS were directed to provide the lists before March 13, 2026, without making disclosure conditional on reciprocal disclosure of the competitors’ own network footprints.
- April 24, 2026: Telecom Order 2026-77 set final rates and terms for specified aggregated wholesale FTTP services.
- May 8, 2026: Deadline for covered carriers to file revised tariff pages reflecting the final approved rates.
The February 2026 location-list decision dealt with implementation information; it did not create the original wholesale-fibre mandate.
What the final wholesale rates mean
The April 2026 order set these monthly FTTP access rates for specified regions and speed bands:
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| Carrier and region | Wholesale speed band | Monthly access rate |
|---|---|---|
| Bell Canada, Ontario and Quebec | 3–1,500 Mbps | $68.26 |
| Bell Canada, Ontario and Quebec | 1,501–8,000 Mbps | $77.20 |
| TELUS, Alberta and British Columbia | 15–1,500 Mbps | $77.21 |
| TELUS, Alberta and British Columbia | 1,501–5,000 Mbps | $81.81 |
These are regulated wholesale charges under the CRTC’s tariff, not prices households pay for complete internet plans. The order also set capacity-based billing at $44.19 per 100 Mbps for Bell Canada in Ontario and Quebec and $42.12 per 100 Mbps for TELUS in Alberta and British Columbia. A competing ISP may also have to cover transport and backhaul, network-interface costs, installation, equipment, support, billing and other operating expenses.
The rates apply retroactively for wholesale tariff accounting: temporary Bell Canada and TELUS Quebec FTTP rates from May 7, 2024; final Bell Canada and TELUS Quebec FTTP rates from January 20, 2025; and final Bell Aliant, Bell MTS, SaskTel and TELUS Alberta and British Columbia FTTP rates from February 13, 2025. These adjustments concern wholesale providers and tariffs; they do not themselves create an automatic customer refund.
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Not every rate question was resolved in that order. The CRTC said final FTTP rates for some Bell Aliant and Bell MTS facilities remained interim pending further analysis. The published figures above should therefore not be treated as one universal nationwide rate schedule.
Will customers get cheaper fibre?
More competitors can offer consumers additional choice and may put downward pressure on prices; that is the CRTC’s intended competitive effect, not a guaranteed discount. The wholesale access charge is only one part of an ISP’s cost, and the approved Bell and TELUS rates leave other expenses to be covered before a provider can set a sustainable retail price.
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An incumbent may also run a temporary retail promotion or offer a bundle with wireless, television or other services. Compare the complete price over time rather than assuming a wholesale-based alternative will always cost less. The regulatory rates do not establish what any provider currently charges retail, and no single price comparison applies across all addresses.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Exceptions that affect address availability
Five-year protection for new fibre builds
Fibre newly deployed by Bell, SaskTel or TELUS after August 13, 2024 is generally exempt from the wholesale-access requirement for five years, through August 13, 2029. The CRTC adopted this head-start period to give the network owners time to recover investment and preserve incentives to expand fibre. As a result, a home on a newer fibre build may not be eligible for wholesale service under this mandate even if the incumbent sells its own service there.
Incumbent-territory limits
Incumbents generally cannot use another incumbent’s mandated wholesale high-speed service inside their own traditional wireline serving territory. This in-territory restriction can affect which large carriers are eligible to use a wholesale network in a particular community. It does not prevent an independent ISP from qualifying where it has a wholesale arrangement.
Other limits
- A fibre network’s presence does not mean every independent ISP has connected to it or offers service at every location.
- The mandate concerns covered telephone-company FTTP facilities, not an equivalent new obligation on cable-company fibre.
- Supported speeds, tariffs, installation conditions and site-visit charges can vary by network and address.
- Transition rules protect existing wholesale customers and place restrictions on matters such as speed changes, technology upgrades and moves.
How to check whether an independent fibre plan is available
- Search by exact address with the independent ISP. A general coverage map or an incumbent’s availability result is not enough to confirm that a competitor can order service for your home.
- Ask which network and technology will serve you. Confirm that the offer uses FTTP on Bell, TELUS or another identified network, rather than cable, DSL or a different fibre arrangement.
- Ask whether the build is eligible. If the location is on a post-August 13, 2024 build, ask whether the head-start exemption affects wholesale availability.
- Confirm the plan’s speeds and terms. Check upload as well as download speeds, equipment supplied, installation or site-visit charges, contract conditions and cancellation or equipment-return requirements.
- Compare the full bill. Ask for the regular price after any promotion and compare it with the incumbent’s offer over the same period, including any bundle discounts.
- Ask how repairs are handled. The retail ISP is your service provider, but the incumbent may perform last-mile network work. Ask how outages and installation delays are escalated.
Why fibre-location lists matter
A wholesale rule is more useful to competitors when they can identify which addresses are actually serviceable. Telecom Decision 2026-29 required Bell and TELUS to provide their wholesale-fibre-available location lists to Quebecor and Rogers under reasonable confidentiality arrangements; disclosure could not be conditioned on the recipients revealing their own network footprints. Better location information can help those competitors assess where to offer service, but it does not require them—or any other ISP—to launch a retail plan at every listed location.
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The CRTC established a regulated route for eligible competitors to sell internet service over specified incumbent FTTP networks, with final rates set for several major tariffs in 2026. It did not make wholesale access universal, require every independent ISP to participate, or ensure that a competing plan will beat an incumbent’s retail offer. For a household, the practical answer still depends on the exact address, the fibre build date, the ISP’s network integration and the complete retail terms.
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