Canada's Community Access Program (CAP)

The Road We Travelled PDF 69MB
This book is the result of a multi-year effort to document successful projects that have resulted in increased understanding and use of technology outside of the urban environment. These stories highlight how rural, remote and aboriginal communities have overcome the digital divide and raised the profile of their communities through increased mastery of technology and application of technical skills to create lasting social and economic benefits for their families and communities.

Community ICT -- a blog about Community Information and Communication Technologies for communities.

Technology Alliance Group (TAG) for Kawartha Lakes has administered the Community Access Program (CAP) in the 'Cottage Country Regional Envelope' which includes the District of Muskoka, Simcoe and Haliburton Counties and the City of Kawartha Lakes. Groups using KLCAP services include those in rural areas, low income, new Canadians, people with disabilities and others at risk of social exclusion. It is proven that technology literacy can make an economic difference for each of these special groups of people. Here are a few of their stories:
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SASKATOON -- More than 60 residents of the Big River First Nation are hoping that spring 2008 brings new economic opportunities. The group hopes to have its artisan co-operative incorporated as a business by the end of March, a move that will increase both economic activity and cultural works in the community, said Marie Prebushewski, western Saskatchewan network developer with the Aboriginal Business Service Network (ABSN). While the ABSN received funding for another year, , Prebushewski and ABSN project team co-ordinator Emily Cherneski are concerned about the future of their program. The Community Access Program (CAP), which provides Internet service and computer access in rural areas, runs out of funding in March.
External link via www.bcics.org

Community economic development potential is highlighted in profiles of three very different Canadian CAP sites -- The Sea to Sky Public Access Network in Squamish, BC, the South St. Jamestown wireless project in a community housing development in Toronto and a CAP site in a school and daycare center in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut.Making Waves is a magazine published by the Center for Community Enterprise for Canadian CED advocates and practitioners.
large PDF [2048 KB]

CAP Stories: MSWord [345KB]
CAP Future (284KB PDF)

Back in December, we prepared a FAQ on CAP:
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SASKATOON -- More than 60 residents of the Big River First Nation are hoping that spring 2008 brings new economic opportunities. The group hopes to have its artisan co-operative incorporated as a business by the end of March, a move that will increase both economic activity and cultural works in the community, said Marie Prebushewski, western Saskatchewan network developer with the Aboriginal Business Service Network (ABSN). While the ABSN received funding for another year, , Prebushewski and ABSN project team co-ordinator Emily Cherneski are concerned about the future of their program. The Community Access Program (CAP), which provides Internet service and computer access in rural areas, runs out of funding in March.
external link via www.bcics.org

The end of Public Access to the Internet?
News release, Nov. 19, 2007

PDF     Open Document     Plain Text     Microsoft Word

Est-ce la fin de l´accès public à Internet?
Communiqué, le 19 novembre 2007

PDF     Open Document     Plain Text     Microsoft Word

Success doesn't compute for the federal Community Access Program (CAP) by Marita Moll. Thousands of community access workers left with no funding.

CAP in crisis: from high priority to policy limbo. Straight Goods op-ed by Marita Moll, posted April 9, 2007. Canada's much vaunted Community Access Program dwindling away for lack of federal funds. Straight Goods archive copy (subscribers only).

A personal presentation by TC Board Member, Garth Graham, to the PCNA 2007 Summit Breakout Session: Telecom Policy and the Future of CAP, Vancouver, BC, February 24, 2007. IF WE ARE THE MARKET FOR INTERNET, WHAT SHOULD WE DEMAMD? In exploring alternative approaches to public policy debate on Internet use, this presentation covers the advice that telco legal counsels are giving to their employers, Internet Protocol as social contract, and Internet use in development that sustains open systems of local learning.     PDF(3.1MB)

"Loss of Internet funding major blow to rural areas, MLA says."

"Mattie McClelland, 76, wonders what she'll do if she no longer has free access to the computer she uses to chat with other widows."

The federal government is undertaking these funding cuts on the backs of rural communities [...]

• CBC announcement
• NDP commentary

It is the belief of those entrusted with the creation of a national association, CANCAP, that the vision and values of CANCAP would best be served by working together with Telecommunities Canada. As such we are very happy to announce that it is the unanimous decision of all of the active members of CANCAP, representing over 95% of Canada, that the work of CANCAP can continue very effectively under the umbrella of Telecommunities Canada and its existing non-profit federal charter.

• Welcome! (PDF 70KB)
• Become a Member of TC

In March 2004, building on the Pictou CAP Summit, the National CAP Council Working Group (CANCAP) developed a vision and framework for the future of the CAP Program. From Access to Inclusion set out a bold new vision for CAP transforming the program from a program focused on access to technology to the application of technology in a manner that will support community development in Canada.

• National CAP Future Vision (PDF 93KB)
• CANCAP Who We Are Nov 2004 (PPT 1,300KB)
• Policy (MSWord DOC 200KB)
• National Collaborations Tally1 (MSWord XLS 18KB)