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<p>TELUS team members joined Doig River First Nation at a Connectivity Groundbreaking Ceremony in 2024.</p>

TELUS team members joined Doig River First Nation at a Connectivity Groundbreaking Ceremony in 2024.

Smart homes, stronger community

Doig River First Nation’s digital transformation

Doig River First Nation Chief and Council are building a Smart Home Community one house at a time while ensuring residents of all ages can connect to the services and resources they have gone without until now.

A $19.2-million TELUS PureFibre project has connected more than 60 households and a dozen businesses in the community, approximately 70 kilometers northeast of Fort St. John, B.C. as part of a regional project that connected another 14 nearby communities. 

The project is a collaboration between TELUS and Doig River First Nation, in partnership with All Nations Trust Company, the Government of Canada, the Government of B.C. and the Northern Development Initiative Trust.

Doig River First Nation is a Treaty 8 First Nation with a clear mission to benefit Doig members by asserting Treaty rights, stewarding their lands and acquiring new lands within their territory.

Before TELUS PureFibre, only half of the homes in the community had access to the lowest of internet speeds, and the rest had no internet or landline connections. 

This PureFibre build is part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to ensuring that all households have a minimum of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload speeds by 2030. 

While Elders stayed in the community, many youth made the difficult choice to leave their homes and pursue education elsewhere because they were struggling to keep up with their studies on internet speeds of 10-30 Mbps. Today, Doig River First Nation residents have access to 2000 Mbps upload and 2000 Mbps download, which is 400% faster than the federal minimum standard.

“This project is much more than a technology installation – it is a beacon of future possibilities for our community,” said Doig River First Nation Chief, Trevor Makadahay. “As we continue to develop our nation, empower our youth and connect with our Elders, we see technology being required more and more. We need to be able to participate meaningfully in our culture, heritage and the opportunity that is ever present across the region.”

Some of the future possibilities for the community include continuing to build homes that are owned and maintained by Doig River First Nation and are equipped with modern smart home products, providing an entirely new approach to housing and safety solutions for residents.

IT & Cultural Heritage Language Manager, Thomas Whitton, shared that with TELUS PureFibre, the Chief and Council’s vision for these Smart Homes is finally a reality. “Community security systems and automation is a top priority for leadership” and they are striving to provide services such as mass door access systems and cameras, thermostats to prevent freezing pipes and carbon monoxide monitors to ensure the safety of residents, especially Elders. 

These services are timely and necessary. The National Indigenous Fire Safety Council recently published a report that found the rate of death from a house fire was around 5 times higher in Indigenous communities than in non-Indigenous communities. 

Whitton shared, “every resident wants access to the internet, especially for emergencies” and now they will have access to some of the most advanced technology that the Nation’s IT team will install and maintain, all powered by high-speed TELUS PureFibre, with the purpose of keeping community members safe and connected.

Understanding that this will be the first time many Elders will be accessing the internet, Darren Ketlo, the TELUS Indigenous Relations Lead who works closely with Doig River First Nation, presented a TELUS Wise digital literacy workshop during the Nation’s security summit. The workshop offers information and resources to help people of all ages have a positive experience as digital citizens with a focus on internet safety and aligns with the Nation’s goals of ensuring that all members benefit from investments in the community. 

TELUS is committed to expanding broadband connectivity to Indigenous communities and lands in our serving areas and is proud to be part of this exciting technology transformation led by Doig River First Nation. We look forward to learning from the Nation as they leverage our solutions and technology to support their goals of ensuring members are staying connected, safe and can access every opportunity without leaving their community. 

TELUS’ commitment to artistic integrity

We are committed to supporting the artistic practices of Indigenous Peoples while being mindful of the historic role organizations have played in the misappropriation of Indigenous art and culture. We have an obligation and responsibility to ensure that TELUS’ use of Indigenous art in our digital and physical spaces is respectful of Indigenous artists.

In 2024, expanding on our commitment to artistic integrity, we declared that we will not use AI technology to create or replicate the art of or imagery of Indigenous Peoples.