Winter 2022 Quarterly Update

• As construction progresses, points of connectivity will begin to go live in a phased approach.
• The first group of Northern communities will be fully connected early 2022 and the last group of communities are expected to be fully online in 2023.
• Construction will generally occur north to south and to be working on the outer west coast of Vancouver Island over the summer of 2022.
• All construction planning and activity is highly dependant on weather and permitting.  The Connected Coast team is adopting a flexible approach to roll out the project as needed.

 Project Construction Launch Event – Oct 29/21

Joint venture partners Strathcona Regional District and CityWest, on behalf of their partners in the federal and provincial governments, announced that the construction phase of the Connected Coast project had officially begun October 29, 2021 at an event in Campbell River, one of the future landing sites for the project.

First 50 kms of subsea fibre-optic cable laid for Connected Coast project

The Connected Coast project hit a milestone last week January 28, 2022, as the first 50 kilometres of fibre-optic cable was laid at landing sites across Northern B.C.

The fibre was laid and connected at shore landings at three communities: Lax Kw’alaams, Metlakatla, and Dodge Cove. Another leg was brought ashore at Ridley Island, an industrial area just outside of Prince Rupert, which will connect into CityWest’s main network.

And this first 50 kilometres is just the beginning. Over the next few weeks, weather permitting, the project team will lay more subsea fibre-optics to other Northern communities, like Kitkatla and Oona River, before going westward to Haida Gwaii. The construction project team will then move down to the southern areas of the network of the east coast of Vancouver Island.

When complete, the project will touch approximately 90,000 households in rural and remote communities around B.C., stretching 3,400 kilometres – about the distance from Vancouver to Ottawa. Laid in an environmentally-friendly manner on the ocean floor, it will be one of the longest coastal subsea networks in the world.

Dropping In – Fibre to Home Construction Begins on Cortes Island

The first of the fibre-to-the-home deployments from the Connected Coast started last week January 27, 2022 on Cortes Island, B.C.  Construction crews have started building the underground-drop network, the infrastructure that will one day connect all residents of Cortes Island to a resilient and reliable telecommunications network.

The ‘Dropping In’ fibre-to-the-home installations will begin on the Klahoose First Nation, followed by the Seaford neighbourhood, then Mansons Landing and Whaletown.

Canpac Valour heads north for the laying of cable for the Connected Coast Project.

The fibre-optics for the Connected Coast project will be laid undersea by the Canpac Valour, which left Campbell River Jan 25th and headed north to Prince Rupert .

She will lay about 200 kilometres of fibre over the next 10 days (weather permitting).

Project Member – Spotlight

Cheryl Katnick, Connected Coast Project Permitting & Engagement Lead

Cheryl Katnick executes on the overall strategy by consulting and engaging with various stakeholders in communities along the coast, to ensure permits are processed in a timely and respectful manner. She enjoys the work, because she likes keeping the big picture in mind while digging in the weeds of details, day-to-day planning, and execution.

“I love complicated moving parts, piecing together the puzzle and brining complex projects to fruition,” says Cheryl.

She’s also working on familiar territory: Cheryl has 24 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, for both terrestrial and marine cable permitting and installation. “I’m lucky to have been part of some amazing projects,” she says. “I was a part of NEPTUNE, an 800-kilometre fibre-optic loop on the west coast of Vancouver Island and I have been lucky enough to visit Inuvik and other arctic communities for project engagement!”

Cheryl believes that the Connected Coast project, when complete, will level the digital playing field for remote communities. Things that are taken for granted in urban centres, such as online learning or the fun of streaming a movie, are scarce in rural and remote communities. “My favourite thing about work has always been travelling to small communities,” she says. “You meet the most amazing people in remote communities. I’m looking forward to learning about all the positive impacts this project will one day bring.”

Cheryl lives in Coquitlam with her husband, her twin boys, and her crazy husky named Ryder.