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NOTICE
The Aboriginal Canada Portal closed February 12, 2013. The Digital Aboriginals of True North Turtle Island have intervened. Please visit this web page for more information.
I. IntroductionThis report on the state of Internet connectivity in the Aboriginal communities of Canada must be viewed as a work in progress. Detailed community scans become outdated before they can be tabulated and analyzed. Also, the rapid expansion of Internet and telecommunication technologies makes any data collection effort challenging. Thus, it is important to continuously track trends in the development of Internet services. To overcome this challenge, we have decided to take advantage of the Internet's power and develop a living report. This printed report will be made available on an annual basis but real time Aboriginal community connectivity statistics and analysis will be available on our website: http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca/connectivity throughout the year.The technology revolution is upon us. Not unlike the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800's and early 1900's, the technology revolution will transform the way business is conducted. The technology revolution provides new opportunities for Aboriginal entrepreneurs, educators and healthcare providers. Connecting to the world via the Internet can provide many opportunities, especially for more remote communities. This report is intended to address the need for information of two primary groups:
a. MethodologyThe preparation of the report on Aboriginal community connectivity began several months ago. The Aboriginal Canada Portal in cooperation with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has played a lead role through conducting connectivity research studies, assembling and analyzing data and statistics and developing the framework upon which the annual report was produced. However, much of the data was drawn from previous data collection exercises. The methodology supporting the annual report and data analysis has been collected from a variety sources including:INAC - List of Indian Reserves and Indian Settlements from the Indian Land Registry System (ILRS); 2002 and 2003 Connectivity Surveys of Aboriginal communities conducted by the Information Management Branch. Statistics Canada - 1996 and 2001 Census data provided us with the ethnic composition of the communities in Canada, population statistics, and census subdivision breakdowns. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission - The CRTC has provided us with insight into the High-Cost Serving Areas ruling and documentation on telephone company Service Improvement Plans (SIPs). Industry Canada - SchoolNet, Community Access Program (CAP), and Broadband for Rural and Northern Development (BRAND) have shared program recipient and community connectivity knowledge with the authors of this report. Private Sector Telecom - Indirectly through the submission of Service Improvement Plans (SIPs) and through direct contact, the telecom providers of Canada have provided us with information on community infrastructure and Internet Service Provider (ISP) locations. i. Creation of an Inclusive Connectivity DatabaseStarting with the list of First Nation and Inuit communities from INAC, plus Métis communities identified through Census 2001, we approached all of the 737 identified Aboriginal communities with 2 successive annual Connectivity Surveys. Survey response rates were encouraging but not inclusive. Added to this database of 737 communities was information on Industry Canada CAP Sites and SchoolNet sites, along with data from telephone carriers on local dial-in access points. The result was a master database of 737 records that include various data sources relating to connectivity. The statistics provided within this report represent a synthesis of these data sources.ii. ACP Connectivity SurveysThe 2002 and 2003 Connectivity Surveys, conducted by the Aboriginal Canada Portal, consisted of a telephone/fax back/on-line approach. The initial point of contact was the Band or Community Administration Office (CAO). Usually engaging in dialog with the economic development officer, we were able to gather information on connectivity at both the community administration office and residences of the community. To date we have successfully collected information from over 650 Aboriginal communities.For a complete list of the survey questions for 2002 and 2003 please see Appendix F. Connectivity Survey Participation Rates
iii. Industry Canada Connectivity ProgramsThe two primary Federal connectivity programs in Canada are the CAP and SchoolNet programs. A number of Aboriginal communities have benefited from these programs and their participation is summarized below. A third IC connectivity program, Broadband for Rural and Northern Development http://broadband.gc.ca , will help to connect a number of Aboriginal communities but the recipients of this funding have yet to begin implementing their plans.For a more detailed description of Federal Government connectivity initiatives please see Appendix C Aboriginal Community Participation in Federal Connectivity Initiatives
Note: Urban, closed and terminated sites were not included
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