Unreliable internet keeps Western Arctic businesses at a disadvantage. A Northern digital strategy—with fiber, satellite, and affordable access—is needed to make connectivity the backbone of regional prosperity.
In an age where commerce, education, and even healthcare depend on broadband, the Western Arctic remains on the margins of the digital map. For businesses in Inuvik or Sachs Harbour, an unreliable internet connection is not an inconvenience — it is an existential constraint. A video call that drops mid-conversation, a payment processor that freezes, or an e-commerce order that cannot be confirmed: each failure is a reminder that distance in the North is measured not just in kilometers but in bandwidth.
It is fashionable in southern capitals to speak of the “digital divide” in terms of convenience — faster streaming, better mobile apps, seamless remote work. But in the Arctic, the divide is measured in dollars and opportunity. A small business that cannot reliably accept online payments cannot expand into new markets. An artisan who cannot upload product photos to an e-commerce site cannot compete with southern sellers. A contractor who cannot coordinate supply orders in real time risks costly delays.
Connectivity is not a luxury. It is infrastructure — as vital as highways and runways. To treat it as optional is to consign northern businesses to permanent disadvantage.
Over the years, Ottawa and territorial governments have funded incremental projects: satellite upgrades, pilot programs, subsidies for bandwidth costs. Each effort helps, but the sum is not transformative. A school may gain a stronger connection, while a nearby business remains stuck with lagging speeds. A community may see improved service in winter, only to lose reliability in summer storms.
The problem is not lack of effort. It is lack of strategy. Canada has not yet treated digital connectivity in the North as what it truly is: the backbone of economic participation in the 21st century.
What is needed is not another patchwork subsidy but a coherent digital strategy for the Arctic. That means investments in undersea fiber where possible, partnerships with low-earth orbit satellite providers where fiber is not feasible, and regulatory frameworks that make service both reliable and affordable. It also means ensuring local businesses — not just government offices — are at the center of planning.
Imagine Inuvik not as a digital outpost but as a hub, with high-speed connections supporting not only government functions but also private enterprises: a local media startup streaming Arctic voices to the world, a logistics company coordinating shipments in real time, a restaurant processing online orders without interruption. Connectivity would not just close gaps; it would create opportunities.
The Western Arctic Business Association recognizes that prosperity in the North cannot be built on weak foundations. Roads and warehouses matter, yes. But in 2025, digital highways matter just as much. That is why WABA is pressing for digital infrastructure to be recognized as a top-tier investment priority — equal to transportation, housing, and healthcare.
By amplifying the voices of entrepreneurs who struggle daily with poor service, WABA aims to move connectivity from the periphery of policy to the center of economic strategy.
Canada often frames sovereignty in the North in terms of military presence or resource claims. But sovereignty is also the capacity of communities to thrive without dependence on southern intermediaries. If the Arctic cannot plug into the digital economy, it risks being not only remote but irrelevant in the global marketplace.
Connectivity is, in this sense, the new sovereignty. To deny businesses reliable digital access is to deny them a future. To invest in that access is to affirm that the North is not merely a symbolic frontier but an active participant in Canada’s economic life.
The question is whether policymakers will continue to treat Arctic bandwidth as an afterthought — or whether they will finally see that in the 21st century, prosperity travels not only by ship or plane, but by fiber and satellite.
