Almost all residents in Hearst to gain access to high-speed internet service

More than $750,000 from Ottawa's rapid-response broadband funding will help the Town of Hearst get nearly all of its households access to high-speed, fibre-optic internet.

The town is also chipping in more than $100,000, which will allow its municipally owned telecom company, Hearst Connect, to install fibre optic internet cables and hook them up to just more than 370 homes.

That accounts for most of the remaining population in the rural community of more than 5,000 people.

"It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Mayor Roger Sigouin, who said the increased connectivity will boost people's quality of life and the local economy.

"If we want to grow in the north, the federal and provincial (governments) should jump on board and help all the communities in the north."

Sigouin said having locally led efforts to improve internet infrastructure can help the north get up to speed with the rest of the province.

This is all part of the federal government's promise to get at least 98 per cent of Canadians high-speed internet access by 2026.