Ontario has officially cancelled its $100-million contract with Starlink, but the province refuses to say how much it cost taxpayers to get out of the deal.
Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce confirmed the cancellation, but did not answer numerous questions about the kill fee the province will have to pay Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma announced the deal last year to deliver high-speed internet to 15,000 residents in rural and northern Ontario.
The deal would have also included Starlink internet for remote First Nations.
Lecce says the province is working on another high-speed internet solution.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to kill the deal in February if U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods were imposed, and he ultimately pulled the deal in March when U.S. President Donald Trump implemented those tariffs.
The Starlink network was developed by SpaceX, a Musk-owned space exploration company headquartered in the United States. Starlink is a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation, reaching altitudes of about 600 kilometres. The satellites can deliver broadband internet to remote locations that have long been without fast, reliable internet service.
Starlink is also a popular choice among Canadian households. Approximately 300,000 homes got their internet connections through Starlink in 2023, according to a 2024 report from the Global Media and Internet Concentration Project. Those homes were primarily in remote parts of the country where broadband access is poor, non-existent or prohibitively expensive.
