Three local communities are in line for improvements to broadband service.

The federal government's Universal Broadband Fund, along with Telus are working to connect Blackie, Stavely and Bragg Creek.

Foothills MP John Barlow is glad to see it happening.

"This isn't a want anymore this is a critical need for Canadians and certainly in rural communities, even in my riding, which a lot of people find surprising, there are some pretty significant areas where they don't have that access," he says.

He says it was needed even before the pandemic but with people working from home and students doing their work online it's even more critical.

"Now that our farm families and ranchers are for all intents and purposes their own business they need access to the global markets, the technology they're using on their farm, whether that's markets, agronomy, soil testing, GPS, they are as reliant on technology as a business in downtown Calgary, so it is imperative that they have access to that technology and certainly as we look to grow business opportunities in our rural communities, if we want to attract new businesses the first thing they're going to ask is 'what is my access to Internet?' and if it's not up to standard they're going to look elsewhere."

He says even before the pandemic students in rural areas didn't have the same advantages because of the lack of Internet access.

"Now as a result of the pandemic some university students or some high school students were having to do their studies from home it is even more critical to have access to be able to keep up with their studies," he says.

Barlow says after taking with representatives from Telus he believes the work should be complete by November of this year.

Questions, comments or story ideas? e-mail news@okotoksonline.com