Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed a desire to move away from Starlink, the popular satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Carney spoke about a vision for reducing Canada’s reliance on the U.S. He touched on topics like trade and resources, as well as strategic and technological dependence.
“Starlink, we will diversify away from, no question,” Carney said. The Times noted he spoke about past disruptions as well as Musk’s reluctance to extend Starlink coverage into Russian-occupied Crimea during a counterattack on a Crimean port.
Carney went on to acknowledge that other satellite internet options aren’t as capable, but said that “from a defence perspective, and certainly pooled with other partners, Europeans, Koreans potentially, you get to scale and you cut that dependency.”
Notably, Starlink is a popular option in Canada. For rural residents, Starlink is a tough internet option to beat. It’s already integrated with Rogers, powering the company’s Rogers Satellite coverage.
However, there are also alternatives in the wings. Canadian companies like Terrestar and Telesat are working to spin up their own satellite operations, while fellow carriers Bell and Telus look to AST SpaceMobile for their own upcoming satellite coverage. There’s also Amazon Leo that, while also American, could eventually be an alternative to Starlink.
Carney isn’t the first Canadian politician to take aim at Starlink. Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancelled a $100 million contract the province had with Starlink in 2025 during the initial round of U.S. tariffs.
Header image credit: SpaceX
Source: New York Times
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