Canada’s immigration influx is spurring subscriber growth for the country’s four biggest telecom providers, but significant investments in network infrastructure are needed to meet rising demand for services, says a report released Thursday.
Credit-rating agency Morningstar DBRS said Canada’s “ambitious” plan to welcome around 500,000 immigrants per year until 2026 will continue to bring new customers for the major carriers in the near term, but subscriber growth could be challenged beyond that if immigration and economic growth slow.
“For telecommunications incumbents, such as Bell Canada BCE-T, Telus Corp. T-T, Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T and Videotron Ltd., international migration was a material contributing factor to strong subscriber growth in the 2022–23 period as more than a million immigrants entered Canada,” said the report by Vikas Munjal,…
