The Canadian broadband ISP landscape looks a lot like it does in the US: plenty of small providers offering solid speed, value, and reliability, and heavy consolidation across the big companies. But if you're home trying to work, learn, game, shop, or stream, the right ISP boils down to which one offers the highest overall satisfaction. In our first-ever Readers’ Choice survey for Canadian broadband providers, the competition is tight at the top. In the US, companies typically win on the merits of their fiber-to-the-home services, and while our two Canadian ISP winners offer fiber, respondents primarily identify for their cable and DSL networks.
Chatham, Ontario-based TekSavvy earns the highest overall satisfaction number of 7.6—tied with our top major ISP, Vidéotron—as well as a respectable likelihood to recommend score of 7.6 (both on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 as the best). The only other category where it scores the highest is for value, at 7.2.
TekSavvy’s known as a “service-based internet provider”—it leases cable and DSL networks owned by big ISPs including Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Vidéotron, and Cogeco. (You don’t see that much in the US, except from Earthlink.) In addition, TekSavvy has deployed fiber optic networks in and around its headquarters area. It offers SkyFi branded fixed-wireless broadband for rural users as well.
This ISP advocates for lowering prices, especially in the wake of revelations that ISP costs to consumers have actually gone up(Opens in a new window) since 2019 across most tiers of service. Canada’s internet prices are among the highest in the world(Opens in a new window). TekSavvy says it's because the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) didn’t push for lower
Read more on pcmag.com