Internet providers come in all sizes, big ones, little ones, ones that are in between. Some are national in scope, some are only regional. There are actually a lot of internet providers in Canada, far more than you might imagine. Generally speaking, all of them are required to be registered with the CRTC. The aim of this website is to help inform you regarding the topic of internet providers in Canada, with the secondary aim of trying to help you make an informed choice when selecting a Canadian internet service provider. You do have choices.

In fact in Canada there is far more choice than in the USA, especially considering that they are about ten times our population. In the USA the larger internet providers have generally speaking swallowed up most of the smaller ISPs, and the American government has not mandated competition like the Canadian government has. Larger coax cable and DSL internet providers in that county have not been mandated to permit smaller ISPs to 'rent' their infrastructure, which has been the primary means by which we have so much internet provider competition in Canada in terms of home internet plans. That said the CRTC works in mysterious ways in setting wholesale access rates which the smaller internet providers have to pay to the larger ones for use of the cable TV networks, etc. (The same cannot be said for mobile internet plans, as the smaller internet providers are pretty much locked out of that market.)

Depending on where you live, you may be familiar with some of the larger internet providers such as Rogers, Rogers with Shaw, Bell, Telus, Videotron, Cogeco, and Eastlink. These larger internet providers own their own cable TV networks or DSL networks. Both types of networks are used to deliver home internet plans to end customers.

Also, depending on where you live, you are less likely to be familiar with the smaller internet providers, who, generally speaking do not own their own cable TV networks, or DSL networks. The simplified explanation is that these internet providers 'rent' (pay to use) the cable TV networks of the larger internet providers. What this means for you the end customer, is that you can order a home internet plan from one of these smaller internet providers, which they can then deliver over the larger internet provider cable TV networks, and the internet plans include the use of the cable TV line to your home. DSL internet can be offered in much the same way, though in that situation the cost of the phone line use is not necessarily included in the cost of the internet plan. These smaller internet providers then tend to pay the larger internet providers to do the home internet installations on their behalf, as well as to look after any service calls should one ever be needed.

Some internet service providers also offer web hosting. We hope that this information has been helpful. Have a great day!