NCF members, partners and supporters,
Please find below my report as Chair of the Board of Directors for the year ending December 31, 2022.
Thanks during tough times
On behalf of the Board, I would like to recognize the hard work of NCF’s staff and volunteers. This is always true, but especially over the last few years given the ongoing challenges related to the pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation, and especially the huge hurdles the CRTC has placed in front of independent internet providers like NCF, and all the extra work the staff have done to mitigate those hurdles for NCF members. We notice and appreciate it.
Due to regulatory inaction, there has been massive industry consolidation with incumbent providers like Bell, Rogers and Telus buying up formerly independent providers like Distributel, EBOX, VMedia, Oxio, Start.ca and more, not to mention Rogers purchasing Shaw: a deal the Competition Bureau tried to block. The result has been a loss of competition and a tougher time for smaller independent internet providers like NCF.
In 2022 we submitted a petition to the Governor in Council in support of a new policy direction to the CRTC that enshrines internet affordability and all kinds of competition, innovation, and investment. You can find it, and all NCF’s other regulatory submissions, here: www.ncf.ca/advocacy
We appreciate your continued support over the last few years and are looking forward to the upcoming decisions from new CRTC leadership, even as we continue to fight for affordability and community ownership.
Finances and Funding
We’re proud NCF has been able to hold our prices steady since February 2021, despite rising costs. This is a core element of our mission for digital equity, making sure we deliver affordable high-quality internet for everyone in our community.
In 2022, in addition to the sales from internet services, NCF was supported by grants and community donations. We would like to thank all the members, funders, and the community at large for helping support our digital skills trainings and digital equity work.
This included funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Resilient Communities Fund, helping us rebuild and grow our core internet services after the pandemic; United Way East Ontario for our Digital Equity Ottawa partnership with the Social Planning Council of Ottawa; and employment subsidies through the Youth Employment Skills Strategy and the Canada Summer Jobs program.
Despite all our challenges, we ended 2022 with only a small deficit, and healthy retained earnings, so I feel like we’re on the right track. Please see the Treasurer’s Report for more detail.
NCF’s 30th anniversary and planning for the future
It’s hard to believe that NCF has already been around for 30 years, until I think back on all that has changed since 1992. As part of our celebrations, I was pleased to participate in NCF’s anniversary video time capsule project, offering my opinions on what the next 30 years will bring in terms of internet access, digital equity and technological development. I was also happy to be joined by 29 other amazing experts and advocates from across Canada. If you haven’t already, please check the videos out here: www.ncf.ca/timecapsule
As part of the Board’s work in 2022 we updated our Strategic Plan in consultation with NCF’s Management Team. The current five-year Strategic Plan was first developed in 2019 and so as things changed, so did some of NCF’s plans. That said, we accomplished much of what we set out to do, including hiring support for sales and marketing, tightening up some of our internal processes, underscoring the need for network resilience, and looking into new internet and community services we can offer.
We’re currently updating the Strategic Plan to take us up until the end of 2024, when we will create another five-year plan. Please feel free to contact me if you have specific suggestions you’d like the Board to consider for the next 18-months and beyond: chair@ncf.ca.
It’s been a pleasure serving as Chair of the Board for the last year and I’d like to thank my fellow Board members for all their work.
I wasn’t around when NCF started, but I know how much has changed. And yet NCF is as unique as we ever were. In a market dominated by major corporate players, NCF has carved out a role for itself as a local not-for-profit internet provider committed to digital equity in everything we do: from the hands-on support of our award-winning HelpDesk to the way we work to keep our prices stable, to our online resources, and our work in the community.
It’s often very challenging, but very worthwhile. Thank you for joining us in this work.
Anis Hanna, Chair
NCF Board of Directors