What is a policy direction, and why does it matter?

A policy direction is guidance from the government on how the CRTC makes all of its decisions, and regulates Big Telecom.

Until now, the CRTC has been relying on a policy direction set in 2006, which told the CRTC to maximize its reliance on market forces – which meant minimizing its own regulation and interventions.2 But this path has led to Canada having some of the highest Internet prices in the world.

In contrast, the focus of this new proposed policy direction is to “promote competition, affordability, consumer interests and innovation.”3 This has the potential to fundamentally shift the way that the CRTC approaches every decision it has to make, and completely change the playing field.

How will this new policy direction help me?