Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Stephen Schmidt (TELUS Communications Inc.) and Philippe Gauvin (Bell Canada)
Gatineau, 17 February 2026
Our reference: 8622-B2-202600494
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Stephen Schmidt
Vice-President – Telecom Policy & Chief Regulatory Legal Counsel
Telecom Policy & Regulatory Affairs
TELUS Communications Inc.
215 Slater St., 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1P 0A6
regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Philippe Gauvin,
Assistant General Counsel
Bell Canada
160 Elgin St., 19th Floor
Ottawa, ON K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Subject: Part 1 Application Requesting Urgent Interim Relief From TELUS Required for Bell to Serve Consumers in Alberta and British Columbia
Dear Stephen Schmidt and Philippe Gauvin:
The Commission is in receipt of a Part 1 application dated 11 February 2026 from Bell Canada (Bell) requesting urgent interim relief to improve the provisioning of wholesale high-speed access services on TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) network. TELUS filed a procedural request on 13 February 2026, to which Bell replied the same day.
The following deals with two issues: TELUS’ request for the disclosure of information that Bell filed in confidence with the Commission; and whether Bell must file its request for final relief prior to considering the request for interim relief. Procedural timelines are thereafter established.
Request for disclosure
While the confidential information at issue may fall within a category of information that can be designated confidential under section 39 of the Telecommunications Act, staff considers that it would be in the public interest that certain designated information be disclosed to TELUS. Commission staff is of the view that Bell is unlikely to suffer harm from the disclosure of certain information to TELUS, given the nature of the dispute as currently laid out. Moreover, the information designated as confidential by Bell at paragraph 95 of its application for interim relief sets out the company’s position with regard to the second branch of the RJR MacDonald test. Without access to this information, TELUS cannot meaningly respond to Bell’s argument in support of the second branch of the RJR MacDonald test. As such, Bell is requested to disclose to TELUS and by no later than 20 February 2026, the following information indicated as confidential in its application for interim relief:
- The entirely of paragraph 60 except for the second and last sentence;
- The last two sentences of paragraph 63 except for what follows the last comma;
- The third and fourth sentences of paragraph 64;
- All information in paragraph 65 except for what precedes the first two commas; and
- All information set out in paragraph 95 of its application.
Final relief request
Staff recognizes that Bell considers its application urgent, but staff also notes that Bell’s application does not set out its request for final relief. Absent exceptional circumstances, requests for interim and final relief are jointly submitted, allowing interested parties and the Commission to understand the issues.
Procedural timelines
Given the above, staff expects Bell to file its request for final relief within the next 10 days, serving a copy on TELUS. Recognizing Bell’s urgent request and in order to allow the Commission to assess Bell’s interim and final relief requests in a timely manner, immediately following the publication of Bell’s final relief request, the following expedited process is set out:
- Interested persons may file an intervention to Bell’s interim relief request no later than 2 days following the publication of Bell’s final relief request, serving a copy on Bell and TELUS.
- TELUS is to file an answer to Bell’s interim relief request no later than 3 days following the publication of Bell's final relief request and having access to the information to be disclosed by Bell as a result of this letter, serving a copy on Bell.
- Bell is to file its reply comments regarding interim relief by no later than 5 days following the publication of Bell’s final relief request, serving a copy on TELUS and all other parties.
- Interested persons may file an intervention to Bell’s final relief request no later than 8 days following the publication of Bell’s final relief request, serving a copy on Bell and TELUS.
- TELUS is to file its answer regarding Bell’s final relief request by no later than 10 days following the publication of Bell’s final relief request, serving a copy on Bell.
- Bell is to file its reply comments regarding final relief 15 days following the publication of Bell’s final relief request, serving a copy on TELUS and all other parties.
Parties are encouraged to disclose as much information as possible on the public record.
Documents are to be received, and not merely sent, by these dates.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Noah Moser
Director General, Costing and Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector
c.c.: Joël Beaupré, CRTC, joel.beaupre@crtc.gc.ca
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