Canada and Quebec Offer Telesat $2 Billion Loan for Satellite Production

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault (L) at the MDA satellite manufacturing centre in Ste.Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, on Sept. 13, 2024. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

Ottawa has offered more than $2 billion to expand Canada’s space program with a low-Earth orbit satellite project that it says will bring more high-speed internet to consumers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the funding announcement for Telesat, alongside Quebec Premier François Legault. The province is putting $400 million into the project, according to a Sept. 13 Telesat news release.

“This is exciting for Montreal that continues to be a leader in aerospace, and it’s exciting for Canada that continues to be out there, connecting the world,” Trudeau said during a Sept. 13 news conference.

The $2.14 billion from the federal government will be a loan, according to Telesat. The money is expected to be paid back within 15 years with a 4.75 percent interest rate, the news release said.

The project will see the development of Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite constellation. It is considered Canada’s largest-ever space program, according to the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) in a Sept. 13 news release.

“This includes prime satellite contractor MDA Space, who develops and operates the iconic Canadarm technology,” the release said.

Telesat Lightspeed will help bring internet and 5G networks to communities around the country as part of Ottawa’s goal of providing high-speed internet to Canadians by 2030, it added.

“Yes, it’s about investing in satellites and space and all sorts of really cool stuff, but it’s fundamentally about making sure that Canadians and people in more distant communities and smaller northern communities and in remote parts of the world can be connected to the transformation and the progress that the world is seeing at increasingly destabilizing speeds,” Trudeau said in the conference.

Ottawa said the low-Earth orbit satellite network will take less time to send and receive information, leading to better and faster internet service, even in remote and Northern communities, according to the PMO.

The federal government said the Telesat network will also bolster satellite communications technology and support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

“We are cementing Canada’s position as a global leader in the new space economy,” Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in the PMO’s news release.

In 2022, almost 94 percent of Canadians had access to high-speed internet, according to the government news release, up 10 percent from 2016.

Ottawa has set a goal of 98 percent of Canadians having access to high-speed internet by 2026 and 100 percent by 2030.

The federal government said it has committed $3.7 billion to more than 600 projects to bring high-speed internet to rural and remote households in Canada.