High-speed Connectivity
Reliable high-speed internet supports education, healthcare, businesses and communities. For more than two decades, Columbia Basin Trust has invested in broadband infrastructure throughout the Basin, helping expand access to reliable internet service in rural and underserved areas.
Working with governments, service providers, local governments, First Nations and communities, the Trust helped build the infrastructure needed to improve connectivity across the region. What began as a small fibre network grew into a regional network supporting communities throughout the Basin.
Active Projects
Connect the Basin
To better connect more rural households, this project includes some expansion of the regional network (the fibre between communities) but is primarily a last mile fibre build, bringing fibre access to the home.
The project has received funding from the federal government through the Universal Broadband Fund, the provincial government through the Connecting British Columbia program, the Regional Districts of Central Kootenay, Columbia Shuswap, Kootenay-Boundary, East Kootenay and the Trust.
Learn more about this project here.
A New Chapter for Basin Connectivity
In 2026, Columbia Basin Trust announced that ownership and operation of its broadband network assets would move to CityWest, an established telecommunications provider. This change will help ensure the long-term management and operation of the Basin’s fibre network while building on the Trust’s past connectivity investments. The Trust’s existing broadband assets are moving to CityWest, while Connect the Basin assets will be transferred following project completion, targeted for spring 2027.
Connectivity Stories
Reliable internet access is making a difference in communities across the Basin. Read stories about how connectivity investments are helping residents, businesses and organizations thrive.
Explore Stories
