Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to preparations made by the government for witnesses representing the Department of Industry, who appeared or were scheduled to appear before parliamentary committees, since October 1, 2025: (a) were any off-site meetings or retreats held for the purpose of committee preparations in any way; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, what are the details, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) list of attendees, (iv) scheduled date and subject of the related committee meeting, (v) name of the related committee; (c) what were the expenditures related to each such meeting or retreat, in total, and broken down by item; (d) what are the details of any contracts signed in relation to off-site meetings, retreats or preparations, including any contracts with consultants who were involved with the preparations in any way, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services, (v) location, if applicable, (vi) date and name of the related committee meeting or scheduled committee meeting; (e) what are the details of any contracts signed in relation to on-site meetings, retreats or preparations, including any contracts with consultants who were involved with the preparations in any way, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services, (v) location, if applicable, (vi) date and name of the related committee meeting or scheduled committee meeting; and (f) are there any other contracts related to committee preparation not covered by (d) or (e), and, if so, what are the details of each, including the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services, (v) location?

With regard to grant and contribution programs administered by the Department of Industry since 2015: (a) what are the details of all such programs that provide funding to small and medium-sized enterprises, including, for each, (i) the program name, (ii) the total funding envelope, (iii) the fiscal years during which the program was active; (b) for each fiscal year since 2015-16, what is the total value of grants and contributions disbursed to small and medium-sized enterprises under each program in (a); (c) for each fiscal year since 2015-16, how many small and medium-sized enterprises received grants and contributions under each program in (a); (d) what criteria are used by the department to define “small” and “medium-sized” enterprises for the purposes of these programs; and (e) what proportion of the department’s total grant and contribution funding was disbursed to small and medium-sized enterprises in each fiscal year since 2015-16?

With regard to the National Broadband Map which Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada uses to determine eligibility of federally funded support for Internet Service Provider projects to meet the federal government’s goal of providing high-speed internet (up to 50/10 Mbps) or broadband internet to all Canadians and broken down by fiscal year beginning in 2020-21: (a) how many discrepancies or errors of the National Broadband Map have been reported to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, broken down by (i) overreport of coverage, (ii) underreport of coverage; (b) what actions does Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada take to investigate such reports; (c) how many reports have been corrected or closed with no action taken, broken down by Internet Service Provider; (d) does Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada take any enforcement action when Internet Service Providers overreport service and this overreport results in the area not being considered for future federal funding; (e) what areas were identified as incorrectly receiving broadband coverage listed by street, town and province or territory; (f) how does a member of the public report to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada that the National Broadband Map is incorrect in their area; (g) how many communications has Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada received from the general public or Internet Service Providers regarding National Broadband Map errors, broken down by (i) date of communication, (ii) type (email, phone call, letter, through the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada account feedback tool), (iii) action taken, (iv) origin of the report (member of the public, Internet Service Provider, Parliamentarian's office); (h) how many errors on the National Broadband Map resulted in an area not receiving federal funding for a broadband project; and (i) what actions is the government taking to identify errors on the National Broadband Map and ensure all Canadians including those in areas considered the “last mile” receive reasonable internet options from Internet Service Providers?