CRTC Is Changing Internet Advertising in Canada: ISPs Will Have to Show Typical Speeds and Real Prices

Shopping for Internet in Canada is about to get much less vague.

Starting March 10, 2027, major Internet providers will have to tell customers the typical download and upload speeds they can actually expect, disclose latency, show the regular price after promotions more clearly and identify necessary equipment fees before someone signs up.

The biggest change is the speed promise.

If an Internet provider sells you a plan with a typical speed of 500 Mbps, that number will no longer be just a marketing estimate. The CRTC is making the advertised typical speed a commitment that the provider is expected to deliver.

Outside peak hours, providers must deliver 100% of the typical speed they advertised. During the weekday evening peak from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time, speeds can fall by no more than 5%.

That gives Canadians something much more useful than the familiar promise of Internet speeds "up to" a certain number.

"Up to 1 Gbps" will no longer be enough

Internet plans are often sold around their maximum theoretical speed.

A plan might advertise "up to 1 Gbps," for example, without telling you what customers normally receive at 8 p.m. when half the neighbourhood is streaming, gaming or making video calls.

The CRTC's new rules do not necessarily ban providers from mentioning maximum speeds. They do mean an "up to" number on its own will no longer be enough.

Providers subject to the Internet Code will have to show the typical download and upload speeds customers should expect from the plan.

The CRTC defines those typical speeds as the speeds customers should expect to receive at all times and that the provider committed to delivering before the sale.

Those numbers must also appear in the customer's contract as key contract terms.

That distinction is important. Instead of buying a plan based mainly on its best possible speed, Canadians should be able to compare providers using a number tied much more closely to the service they are actually expected to receive.

Your advertised "typical" speed becomes a real commitment

The CRTC also set thresholds for how closely providers have to deliver those advertised speeds.

Outside the 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekday peak period, the provider is expected to deliver 100% of the typical download and upload speeds it committed to.

During those peak hours, it must deliver at least 95%.

Take a plan advertised with a typical download speed of 500 Mbps.

During weekday peak hours, the provider would generally need to deliver at least 95% of that committed speed. Outside those hours, the full typical speed is the standard used for compliance.

That makes a speed test considerably more meaningful.

Today, a customer complaining about a slow connection can run into an awkward question: was the speed they saw in the advertisement actually promised, or was it simply the theoretical maximum?

Under the new rules, there will be a specific typical speed in the offer and contract that can be compared with what the customer is receiving.

If there is a dispute, the onus is on the Internet provider to demonstrate that it is delivering what it committed to provide.

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, or CCTS, can also award compensation in Internet quality-of-service complaints. The CRTC says complaints should consider both how serious the slowdown is and how regularly it happens.

A single unusual speed test is therefore different from a connection that repeatedly falls well below the committed speed.

Latency will finally appear alongside speed

Download speed is only one part of how an Internet connection feels.

The new rules will also require providers to disclose a latency range for each plan.

Latency measures the delay between your device sending information and receiving a response. Lower latency generally makes an Internet connection feel more responsive.

It can be particularly noticeable during online gaming, video calls and other activities where a delay of even a fraction of a second affects the experience.

A very fast connection can still feel poor if latency is high.

From March 10, 2027, the latency range offered with the plan will become another key contract term and must appear in Internet marketing.

That should make it easier to compare two plans that look almost identical when judged only by their headline download speed.

Canooq's Mobile & Internet in Canada guide already recommends choosing a plan based on what your household actually does online instead of automatically paying for the highest advertised Mbps. The new disclosures should make that comparison considerably easier.

Promotional pricing will have to be much clearer

The CRTC is also targeting one of the more frustrating parts of shopping for Canadian Internet: a large promotional price followed by a much less visible regular price.

Starting March 10, providers covered by the rules must display the full monthly price after discounts expire with equal or greater prominence than the promotional price.

So if a plan costs $60 per month for the first two years and then becomes $95, the $95 regular price cannot be buried in small print while "$60/month" dominates the offer.

Necessary equipment rental fees must also be prominently disclosed before the sale.

For households comparing Internet plans, this could be just as useful as the speed rules.

A $55 promotional plan that later becomes $90 is a very different deal from a $65 plan that stays at $65. Until now, comparing those long-term costs has often required opening offer details and reading through promotion conditions.

The CRTC wants both prices visible enough that customers can compare them before signing a contract.

What Internet plan advertisements could look like

The CRTC published an example showing the type of information consumers could see together in an offer.

Instead of:

Internet 100 $70/month Up to 100 Mbps

an offer could show information more like:

Internet 100

$70/month $95/month after 24 months Includes a $10/month modem rental

Typical download/upload speeds: 100 Mbps / 40 Mbps Latency: stated range Peak period: 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays

The exact design can differ by provider, but the required information should make two competing plans much easier to put side by side.

The rules do not cover every small Internet provider yet

There is one important limit.

These requirements apply to Internet providers that are subject to the CRTC's Internet Code.

The current list includes major facilities-based providers such as Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, Northwestel, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, Videotron and Xplore, along with relevant brands and affiliates covered by the Code.

The CRTC estimates the new protections will therefore cover close to 90% of retail fixed Internet subscribers in Canada.

Smaller providers outside the Internet Code are not automatically required to follow all of the new rules, although they can choose to do so.

The CRTC is separately reviewing which providers should fall under its consumer protection codes, so that scope could change later.

Contracts will become easier to check too

The changes continue after you subscribe.

Typical download and upload speeds and the latency range will become key terms of the Internet contract.

Providers with online customer portals will also have to make customers' contracts and Critical Information Summaries continuously available through those portals.

Providers must publish information about the methodology they use to measure their typical speeds and latency as well.

That leaves customers with a relatively straightforward paper trail:

what the provider advertised, what it committed to in the contract, how it says those numbers are measured and what the customer is actually receiving.

What to do once the rules take effect

If you are shopping for Internet after March 10, 2027, the giant Mbps number at the top of the page should no longer be the only number you compare.

Look for:

• the typical download speed
• the typical upload speed
• the latency range
• performance during the 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekday peak
• the promotional monthly price
• the regular price once the promotion ends
• mandatory modem or equipment rental fees

Then save the offer or contract you accepted.

If your connection repeatedly performs materially below the typical speeds your provider committed to, start with the provider. If the issue is not resolved, customers of providers covered by the Internet Code can take a complaint to the CCTS.

For Canadians who already find Internet plans needlessly difficult to compare, this is a meaningful change. A plan advertised as fast and cheap will increasingly have to put numbers beside both claims.