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The gap keeps widening for Canada's North

20 0
27.06.2026

Greetings from Canada’s coldest community!

No, that’s not Ottawa, although that is where I was supposed to be this morning. It’s Grise Fiord, Nunavut, where I’ve been trapped by weather delays and cancellations for an indeterminate period. 

I’m here on assignment, and one of the first things I noticed was the revolution in connectivity that has quietly taken place in the remotest reaches of Canada. I spent years living in the North and travelled extensively through Nunavut, and one habit I got into was never relying on internet or cell connectivity if I was going to be anywhere beyond Iqaluit or Yellowknife. I was quickly disabused of that concern on this trip. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say I have had more reliable internet service in Grise Fiord, Resolute Bay and Iqaluit this month than in my Victoria apartment, thanks to now-ubiquitous Starlink routers and vast improvements in cell service. (A federal program is also, thankfully, coming to edge out Elon Musk’s........

© National Observer