TELUS delivers on reconciliation by closing the digital divide
TELUS is partnering with Indigenous-led organizations on Indigenous-led solutions to advance reconciliation that will be felt by generations to come.
CAPTION: As the first Innu woman elected band council chief of Pakua Shipu, Mary Mark is proud of the progress made by the women in her community since the arrival of TELUS high-speed internet. (TELUS Photo by Joshua McKinnon).
On July 6, 2017, a two-hectare wildfire began west of 100 Mile House, British Columbia.
By the time that year’s record-breaking fire season was over, a total of 1.2 million hectares were scorched in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region and about 65,000 people were displaced.
“About 70 per cent of the land was ravaged — the only thing that didn’t burn was the community,” said Tl’etinqox Executive Director and Councillor Ashton Harry.
Today, as the Tl’etinqox people of the Tsilhqot’in rebuild after the devastating fires, they are leveraging technology — powered by fast and reliable internet through TELUS’s PureFibre Network — to honour their traditions and create new economic and educational opportunities.
“We can meet with experts virtually. We don’t have to bring them out. . . Connectivity came just in time for the more than 500 people living in the Tl’etinqox community as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to find new ways to work and connect,” said Harry.
In the vast, roadless region of Quebec’s Lower North Shore, the Innu women of Pakua Shipu, a First Nation community with a population of just over 200 people, are playing a leading role in their community’s economic development.
While most Canadians may consider connectivity easy to come by, it was only in November 2019 that the Pakua Shipu community meaningfully got connected to the rest of the world when TELUS deployed its 4G LTE wireless network as part of an ambitious project that now ensures cell phone and high-speed internet service to people across the vast Lower North Shore region.
“It really helped solve one of the main challenges for local women, which is education,” said former Chief Mary Mark, who was the first woman elected as Chief of the Pakua Shipu.
Until the pandemic struck in 2020, cell phone service was virtually non-existent in Eden Valley Reserve 216, home to the Bearspaw First Nation in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains southwest of Calgary. Residents seeking a reliable connection had to travel 30 kilometres down the road to the neighbouring town of Longview to get a signal.
Within 72 hours of getting notice, TELUS took emergency action to light up cell service to the area and ensure that the community’s 700 residents could quickly and easily connect with public health officials — and each other — to stay healthy and safe.
TELUS has now designed and planned permanent wireless connectivity for this community.
These are examples of how TELUS is partnering with Indigenous-led organizations on Indigenous-led solutions to advance reconciliation that will be felt by generations to come.
The company spent 2021 actively developing an inclusive, culturally relevant Indigenous Reconciliation Strategy and Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan (IRAP). They also sponsored the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase (IPSS) event held in Vancouver in May.
The two-day IPSS event with central themes of renewal, connection and commitment spread the word about how Indigenous communities and corporate Canada are embracing the spirit of reconciliation.
“In today’s networked world, it doesn’t matter where you live. Even remote rural areas, provided they have the communications infrastructure in place, can access other people in ways that previously you just couldn’t,” said Stewart Muir, who founded IPSS in 2020.
“This is particularly meaningful for Indigenous peoples since so many other communities are located away from city centers,” he said.
“At TELUS, we understand that technology is a great equalizer, but only if we all have access to it. Through the combination of a range of technologies, enabled by coordinated public-private partnership models and supportive policy, we believe that all Indigenous communities can be connected,” said Shazia Zeb Sobani, VP of Customer Network Implementation for Telus.
“I am proud to share that in partnership with Indigenous governments and through co-funding arrangements with the governments of BC and Canada, we have connected 48 communities in 2021 alone. We will continue to partner to create effective joint investment initiatives that meet the real and unique needs of each nation in 2022 and beyond,” she said.
TELUS has a long-standing track record of investing in critical infrastructure and world-leading network technology across Canada.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it is utilizing its Smart Hub technology and award-winning 5G network to bring Canada’s fastest fixed wireless Internet speeds to nearly 60 rural communities across BC and Alberta by the end of 2022.
Since 2013, TELUS has invested more than $5 billion to connect 137 communities and 56 First Nations across BC, Alberta, and parts of Quebec to its gigabit PureFibre network.
TELUS’ key programs to bridge digital divides and work towards a future where all Indigenous communities have the technology needed to support their unique goals include:
The All-Nations Trust Company Pathways to Technology Program - ANTCO, is the largest and most complex First Nations connectivity initiative in the country. The goal is to bring affordable and reliable high-speed internet to all 203 First Nations in British Columbia, aiming to connect BC First Nations to the world regardless of where they live. Over the past ten years, TELUS and Pathways have collaborated to connect 48 communities, including 16 with TELUS PureFibre.
Innovation, Science, And Economic Development Canada (ISED) Universal Broadband Fund - ISED’s Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) was established to fund high-speed internet projects to rural, remote and Indigenous communities across Canada. TELUS and ISED co-funded to connect eight Indigenous communities to our advanced broadband networks in 2021, and
Government Of BC Northern Development Initiative Trust: Connecting BC Program – The Connecting British Columbia program is funded by the Government of BC and administered by Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT) to expand and upgrade broadband connections in rural and Indigenous communities throughout BC.
In addition, TELUS also has an Indigenous Communities Fund, which provides flexible grants of up to $50,000 to Indigenous-led organizations, not-for-profits and community groups supporting Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
The grants are open to projects focused on health, mental health and well-being, access to education and resources, community building and enhancement, language and cultural revitalization and inter-community sharing of cultural stories.
“We are incredibly proud of TELUS’ reconciliation commitment and the actions we have taken to support and amplify Indigenous voices. But we can and we must do more,” said Jill Schnarr, Chief Social Innovation and Communications for TELUS.
“As we work to become a valued partner on the road toward meaningful reconciliation, it is our critical responsibility not only as a business, but as leaders, to help create change and push ourselves, our teams, and our industries to do better in alignment with Indigenous-led frameworks of reconciliation,” she said.
Find out more about the Indigenous Partnership Success Showcase at www.Indigenoussucess.ca.