Ottawa, Quebec pool $2.5B to build satellites for better internet in remote areas

The Canadian government on Friday announced a loan of $2.14 billion to satellite operator Telesat to help the company build its broadband satellite constellation, in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as Canada's largest ever space program.

Quebec's government, meanwhile, announced a loan of $400 million to the company, which has contracted aerospace technology firm MDA to build its satellites in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que.

Speaking to reporters Friday at MDA's facility in Montreal's West Island, Trudeau said the Telesat Lightspeed low Earth orbit broadband satellite constellation will enable people in the most remote parts of the country, including in Indigenous communities and in areas with mining and forestry operations, to connect with cheaper, more reliable internet.

«That's what this investment is about,» he said.

«Yes, it's about investing in satellites and space and all sorts of really cool stuff,» Trudeau said. «But it's fundamentally about making sure that Canadians and people in more distant communities, in 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.»

First launch expected in 2026

A news release from the Office of the Prime Minister said Ottawa's loan will help create 2,000 jobs in Canada.

Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters Telesat plans to create 967 jobs in the province. The premier stressed the importance of the aerospace sector to Quebec, which is home to three of the world's biggest airplane manufacturers. However, he said, the sector's future increasingly relies on satellites and not just planes.

«If we want to be the champion of aerospace, we have to be