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Telecom - Secretary General Letter addressed to Stephen Schmidt (TELUS Communications Inc.) and Robert Malcolmson (Bell Canada)

Gatineau, 5 February 2026

Our reference: 8660-T66-202600106

BY EMAIL

Stephen Schmidt
Vice-President – Telecom Policy & Chief Regulatory Legal Counsel
TELUS Communications Inc.
Floor 5
215 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 0A6
regulatory.affairs@telus.com

Robert Malcolmson
EVP & Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer
Bell Canada
Floor 19
160 Elgin Street Ottawa, ON K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca

Subject: Application for urgent relief regarding Bell Canada’s degradation of its mandated wholesale FTTP service to TELUS

Dear Stephen Schmidt and Robert Malcolmson:

We are writing to inform you of the Commission’s decision regarding TELUS Communications Inc.’s (TELUS) request for interim relief filed in its Part 1 application (Application), referenced above. The Commission approves TELUS’s request for interim relief and directs Bell Canada (Bell) to immediately restore its Wholesale HSA Service (the Service) to what it provided to TELUS as of 9:00 AM (EST) on 14 January 2026, pending final resolution of TELUS’s Application.

The Record

On 20 January 2026, the Commission received TELUS’s Application, alleging that Bell unilaterally changed the Service. This disrupted ordering and impaired TELUS’s service delivery to Canadians residing in Ontario and Quebec.

TELUS requested both interim and final relief. This letter addresses only TELUS’s interim relief request; the Commission will consider TELUS’s final relief request in due course.

TELUS requested that the Commission issue an order pursuant to section 51 of the Telecommunications Act (the Act) requiring Bell to:

  1. restore the Service to what it provided to TELUS as of 9:00 AM (EST) on 14 January 2026; and
  2. after restoring the Service, refrain from changing the Service it provides to TELUS without (a) the prior consent of TELUS, or (b) an order of the Commission.

Bell submitted that the Commission cannot order interim relief that is not required by the Act, a tariff or a decision. Bell also submitted that TELUS has not suffered harm that justifies granting the requested interim relief, for the following reasons:

Commission Rationale

In the Commission’s view, Bell’s actions, on their face, raise serious concerns of unjust discrimination, contrary to subsection 27(2) of the Act. The changes made to the Service impacted TELUS’s ability to sign up new customers. These changes were made with little notice and continue to negatively impact new customers.

Given this, immediate Commission action is justified to protect the integrity of Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180 (the HSA framework) and ensure Canadians can effectively switch providers when they choose to do so.

The Commission has previously stated that companies cannot resort to self-help measures to resolve disputes about mandated services. This is even more true in cases like this one, where the self-help measures impact Canadians’ ability to take advantage of new competitive options in the market.

The Commission therefore directs Bell to immediately restore its Service to TELUS as it existed as of 9:00 AM (EST) on 14 January 2026, pending the final resolution of TELUS’s Application.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Noah Moser, Director General, Telecommunications Sector, Noah.Moser@crtc.gc.ca.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Marc Morin
Secretary General and Executive Vice-President

CC: Leila Wright, Vice-President, Telecommunications, CRTC, Leila.Wright@crtc.gc.ca
Noah Moser, Director General, Telecommunications, CRTC, Noah.Moser@crtc.gc.ca
Suneil Kanjeekal, Director, Telecommunications, CRTC, Suneil.Kanjeekal@crtc.gc.ca
Crystal Hulley-Craig, Senior Counsel, Telecommunications, CRTC, Crystal.Hulley-Craig@crtc.gc.ca

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