Low-cost home internet in Canada runs through three doors: the federal Connecting Families Initiative ($10 or $20 a month, invitation letter only), ISP programs you apply to directly (Rogers Connected for Success, TELUS Internet for Good), and what to do when the letter never arrives.
Applies in: across Canada
Cheap home internet in Canada is not one program. It is three doors, and the letter in your mailbox decides which one opens for you. The federal Connecting Families Initiative offers the lowest published prices, $10 or $20 a month, but only to households the government invites by letter. Two provider programs, Rogers Connected for Success and TELUS Internet for Good, take applications directly from people receiving income, disability, or seniors benefits, with no letter needed. And if no letter ever arrives, the fastest move is usually the provider door, not waiting for the mail.
The split matters because the doors do not share an application. A provider cannot put you into Connecting Families, and a Connecting Families letter does not get you a provider program's other tiers. Work out which door fits, then follow that door's steps only.
The Connecting Families Initiative is run by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Eligibility is confirmed annually by the Government of Canada. If you qualify, you receive a letter from the Government of Canada or Service Canada inviting you to take part. There is no application form to start with, and phoning a provider will not produce a letter.
Two groups qualify, and the test is exact:
The seniors test catches people out. Some provider pages still describe it as receiving the maximum supplement. The federal eligibility page is the authority, and it says at least 80% of the maximum. If you sit between 80% and the maximum, you are in the eligible group on the federal test even though a provider page reads stricter. Use the estimator, not a provider FAQ, to settle your own case.
The invitation letter arrives in a Service Canada or Government of Canada envelope. A valid letter carries the Government of Canada logo, your home address, a date in month-year format, an 8-digit code unique to you, and the subject line "Connecting Families Initiative." Keep it. The code is the signup key, and there is no other way in.
To sign up, enter the code in the Connecting Families registration portal and use the address printed on the letter, even if you have moved since it was sent. You can confirm your new address later in the registration process. If you enter your new address at the first step instead, the portal may not match your record.
The initiative publishes two tiers, and both prices exclude tax:
The offers carry no equipment or installation fees. If your address cannot reach the advertised speed, the provider supplies the fastest speed available there instead. Your provider can help you choose between the two plans at signup.
One lock-in deserves attention before you pick a provider. Once you sign up, you cannot change providers while taking part in the initiative. The only exception is moving to a location where your current provider does not offer service. Check which participating providers serve your address before you commit, because the choice sticks. Fourteen providers partnered in the initiative at the launch of its second phase, including Bell, Cogeco, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, and Vidéotron. The provider list can change, so confirm participation at signup rather than trusting a list copied from an old announcement.
If you receive income support, disability benefits, or the Guaranteed Income Supplement but hold no letter, the provider programs are the direct route. You apply, you supply proof of the benefit, and the provider decides. These programs are separate from Connecting Families even when the same company runs both.
Rogers Connected for Success offers discounted home internet and mobile plans to people receiving government financial assistance. For Connecting Families participants, Rogers offers the same products, starting from $9.99 a month plus taxes for 25 Mbps download speed with unlimited data, free installation, and modem rental. Higher-speed tiers exist; check the application page for the current tiers and prices, because the flyers circulating online are older than the current offer.
The qualifying groups Rogers names include people receiving provincial income or disability support, such as Ontario Works, the Ontario Disability Support Program, New Brunswick's Social Assistance and Disability Support programs, and Newfoundland and Labrador Income Support; seniors receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement; rent-geared-to-income tenants of a housing partner organization; recipients of the federal Resettlement Assistance Program; and families receiving the maximum Canada Child Benefit through Connecting Families. Proof of assistance is required, and existing customers must resubmit proof every two years. Apply through the Connected for Success site, and expect a review period: program flyers put it at up to three weeks. Availability depends on your address and the technology serving it, so run the address check before assuming the offer reaches you.
TELUS Internet for Good runs in streams, and each stream has its own application. The streams verified on TELUS pages are:
Prices differ by stream, so confirm the price for your own stream when you apply rather than carrying a figure from another stream's page. The geography differs by stream too. The seniors and disability pages name British Columbia and Alberta. If you live elsewhere, check the current application pages before assuming coverage, and use the Connecting Families letter route if you hold a letter.
A missing letter is the most common dead end in this whole area, and most of the advice online skips the sequence that resolves it. Work it in order.
First, check whether you actually qualify. Run the Canada Child Benefit Calculator if you have children, or the Guaranteed Income Supplement Estimator if you are a senior. If the test says you do not receive the maximum benefit or at least 80% of the maximum supplement, there is no letter coming, and the provider door is your route.
Second, account for the envelope. The federal invitation-letter page names the two reasons a qualifying household may not have its letter: a recent move, and a letter accidentally thrown out. The letter goes to the address on file, so a move between the annual confirmation and the mail-out sends it to the old address. A plain Government of Canada envelope is easy to discard unopened.
Third, if you lost or discarded the letter, contact the program, not the provider. The invitation-letter page directs people who lost their letter to the Connecting Families Initiative team through the registration portal pages. Your provider cannot reissue the code: providers do not determine eligibility and hold no taxpayer information, so asking them wastes the call.
Fourth, while you wait, apply to a provider program. Nothing in the letter system stops you from holding a Rogers or TELUS program plan in the meantime. If a letter arrives later, you can use the code then; Rogers states that an existing Connected for Success customer at $9.99 a month sees no invoice change from also qualifying for Connecting Families.
Fifth, keep the underlying benefit current. Eligibility is confirmed annually, so a lapsed benefit or an unfiled tax return can end the discount at the next check. File on time and keep receiving the benefit that qualified you. The code stays valid for the life of the initiative while the household remains eligible, but eligibility itself is re-tested every year.
Every offer in this guide depends on availability at your address. The federal announcement states it plainly: access to the discounted offering depends on availability. A participating provider may not serve your street, and some rural and remote areas sit outside every participating provider's footprint. Run the address check on the provider's signup or application page before planning around a price. If no discounted home plan reaches you, the library and community-centre route is the bridge, not a substitute plan: public internet access at libraries and community centres costs nothing, and it keeps applications, schoolwork, and benefit renewals moving while you pursue a home connection.
The federal low-cost-plans page says people eligible for Connecting Families can also get a discounted refurbished device through the Computers for Schools Plus program, while supplies last, prompted inside the registration portal. Availability varies by region and affiliate organization. Do not count on a device until the portal offers you one: the British Columbia affiliate announced in March 2026 that Computers for Schools Plus funding had come to an end and the program would sunset effective March 31, 2026. Other regions may differ, so the portal check is the only reliable answer for your address.
The other caution is older dead links. The federal Digital Literacy Exchange Program, which funded digital-skills training through non-profits, concluded on March 31, 2025, according to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Guides and flyers that still present it as a live route are out of date. For skills help today, use the workshops tied to a program you join, such as TELUS Wise, or your local library's training sessions.
Three figures were cut rather than carried into this guide. No end date for the Connecting Families Initiative is stated on the federal pages checked, so none is given here; the March 31, 2027 date in a secondary reference document was not used. Rogers' higher speed tiers and their prices were not stated, because only the starting $9.99 offer appears on Rogers' current program page and the tier prices in circulation come from older flyers. TELUS disability-stream prices were not stated as a single figure, because TELUS publishes different starting rates by stream and the price for your stream must be confirmed at application. Check each program's own page at the time you apply: these offers change, and a guide that quotes last year's flyer as today's price does a low-income household no favours.
| Connecting Families, Plan 1 | $10 per month, plus tax — up to 10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 100 GB |
|---|---|
| Connecting Families, Plan 2 | $20 per month, plus tax — up to 50 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 200 GB |
| Rogers Connected for Success, starting offer | From $9.99 per month, plus tax — 25 Mbps, unlimited data, free installation and modem rental |
| TELUS Internet for Good, Internet 25 | From $9.95 to $10 per month, depending on the stream — confirm your stream's price when you apply |
Connecting Families prices are the federal initiative's published tiers. Rogers and TELUS set their own program offers, so the price and speed shown at application govern. Confirm the current offer before you sign up, because program prices change.
The letter is not automatic on the day you qualify. Eligibility for the Connecting Families Initiative is confirmed annually by the Government of Canada, and the letter goes to the address on file. The two common reasons for a missing letter are a recent move and a letter thrown out unopened. Check first that you meet the eligibility test on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada eligibility page, using the Canada Child Benefit Calculator for the maximum-benefit test. If you moved, the letter went to your old address. If you lost or discarded it, contact the Connecting Families Initiative team through the registration portal pages for help with your code. Do not wait for a second letter while doing nothing: the ISP programs in this guide take direct applications now.
No. A household must have received a letter from the Government of Canada with an access code to sign up, and that is the only signup route the initiative offers. Your internet provider cannot issue a letter or check your eligibility, because providers do not determine eligibility and do not hold taxpayer information. If you have no letter, the workable route is an ISP program you apply to directly, such as Rogers Connected for Success or TELUS Internet for Good, with proof of the benefit you receive. If you believe you qualify for Connecting Families but never got a letter, check the eligibility page first, then contact the Connecting Families Initiative team about a lost letter rather than asking the provider.
Pick by what the connection has to carry. The $10 plan gives up to 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up with 100 GB a month, which covers email, browsing, and one video call at a time. The $20 plan gives up to 50 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up with 200 GB, which handles video streaming, schoolwork, and several people online at once. Your provider can help you choose at signup. The choice matters more than usual because you cannot change providers once you sign up for the initiative: the only exception is moving to a place your current provider does not serve. If your address cannot get the faster speed, the provider offers the fastest available speed instead.
No, not on its own. Rogers states that eligible Connecting Families participants are offered the same products as Connected for Success, and that a customer already receiving the $9.99 a month internet through Connected for Success sees no change on the monthly invoice. You can stay on that plan, or call a Rogers Connected for Success agent to look at other speeds and bundles open to eligible participants. The letter does not force a switch, and it does not add a second discount on top of the one you already have.
The streams verified on TELUS pages at the time of writing are centred on British Columbia and Alberta: the seniors offer and the disability offer name those two provinces, and the family offer grew out of the British Columbia program. TELUS does take part in the federal Connecting Families Initiative, which runs through providers across the country, so a household outside British Columbia or Alberta with an invitation letter can still use the letter route with the provider that serves its address. If you live elsewhere and have no letter, check the current TELUS Internet for Good application pages for the geography that applies today, because program coverage has expanded before, and do not assume a British Columbia or Alberta page describes your province.
No end date is published on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada pages checked at the time of writing, so this guide does not state one. What is published is the annual cycle: eligibility is confirmed every year by the Government of Canada, and the access code stays valid for the life of the initiative while the household remains eligible. Treat the program as year-to-year. Keep your tax filing current, keep receiving the benefit that qualified you, and recheck the initiative's pages before you assume next year's terms match this year's. A secondary document circulating online names March 31, 2027, but that date does not appear on the federal pages checked, so do not plan around it.