WhistleOut fast facts
- Opensignal analyzed the high-speed internet experience for Canadians to see how broadband networks perform.
- Home internet companies offer two types of broadband in Canada: cable providers and fibre networks.
- No provider offers service across all the markets in Canada, so there is no national benchmark for comparison.
- Bell and Telus fibre service rank highly in the available markets: Atlantic, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia.
While home internet costs in Canada are dropping, a new report examines the best internet providers across the major Canadian markets. The report from Opensignal analyzes several factors to determine the best broadband provider but found that no one company ranked highest for the country.
The best rankings came for Bell and Telus fibre service. However, home internet service from both companies is unavailable nationwide; it is limited to three markets for Telus and four for Bell. Both companies cover Quebec.
Bell does not offer the fastest download speeds in the Atlantic province but beats competitors in all other categories. (You can check out your speeds with our speed test.) Meanwhile, Telus offers the fastest speeds compared to the competition, except in Quebec, where Bell beats it. (See how your speed stacks up with our speed test.)
Broadband insights
Opensignal’s report focuses on internet providers in the southern Canadian markets: Alberta, Atlantic Provinces (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
The report highlights how Manitoba and Saskatchewan are underserved regions for home internet.
Opensignal analyzed eight broadband providers and 12 plan options against six assessments: broadband upload speed, regular and peak download speed, video experience, consistent quality, and success rate for the Wi-Fi networks offered by each provider.
Peak times were between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, and video experience was overall rated as “very good,” according to Opensignal. In most regions, Bell and Telus Fibre are the top choices, and Bell beat Telus in head-to-head competition in Quebec.
The report does not include the Northern Territories—Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Most of these are isolated territories, and residents have trouble finding reliable home internet providers. Starlink is one of the few providers in those remote areas, and the satellite internet company offers fast download and upload speeds.
While there is no discussion of home internet costs in the Opensignal analysis, a recent price comparison report by Wall Communications found that broadband costs decreased by 2-4% on average. On the broadband side, the average plan cost is $74.79, which is above average worldwide but a decrease for Canadians.
Fibre service was the faster and better option for Canadian home internet. Depending on your location, Bell and Telus are the best providers.Join the more than 130,000 people who follow WhistleOut to find technology they love.
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Internet Providers by Provinces and Territories
- Internet in Alberta
- Internet in British Columbia
- Internet in Manitoba
- Internet in New Brunswick
- Internet in Newfoundland and Labrador
- Internet in Northwest Territories
- Internet in Nova Scotia
- Internet in Nunavut
- Internet in Ontario
- Internet in Prince Edward Island
- Internet in Quebec
- Internet in Saskatchewan
- Internet in Yukon Territory
