Canada’s plans to reduce its reliance on Starlink are being tied to the development of Telesat Lightspeed, but the alternative satellite network is still years away from full service.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday that Canada will move away from Elon Musk’s satellite internet service. “Starlink, we will diversify away from, no question,” Carney said, as part of a wider push to cut Canada’s economic and strategic dependence on the United States (via Tesla North).
Carney suggested Canada could work with European and Korean partners to build enough scale.
U.S. investor MHR Fund Management owns 35.5% of Telesat, while SpaceX is contracted to carry out the 14 Falcon 9 launches required to deploy the constellation. Ottawa has committed $1.44 billion in loans and equity to Lightspeed, and a $2.3 billion defence contract signed in August added 69 more satellites, bringing the planned network to 225.
Ontario has also previously moved away from Starlink. Doug Ford’s government cancelled its $100 million Starlink deal in March 2025 over U.S. tariffs, later reaching a confidential settlement with a “kill fee” the province said was significantly less than the contract value.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan invested about $300 million in SpaceX in 2019. That stake was worth US$8.7 billion at June 30, a 29-fold gain the Financial Post called a “significant contributor” to the fund’s 9.5% first-half return.
Starlink currently has more than 500,000 Canadian users. The first Lightspeed launches are not expected until 2026, with global service targeted for early 2028. Until then, it remains unclear what service would replace Starlink for Canadian customers.
