Manitoba internet speeds 2nd slowest in Canada

Manitobans face a (down)load of frustration with the second-slowest internet speeds in the country, tests suggest.

Manitobans on average experienced a download speed of 12.6 megabits per second, compared to the national average of 18.64 Mbps.

New Brunswick led the way in the tests at 26.98 Mbps while Yukon was last at 6.68 Mbps.

The results came from 126,000 tests performed in 60,000 Canadian locations (multiple tests in some locations). The tests were conducted by ordinary internet users between May and December 2015 using a tool posted online by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority.

• CIRA report: Canada's internet performance

Access to fast, reliable and affordable internet service is not only critical to economic development, but also represents an important social good, CIRA states in its report on the findings.

CIRA manages the .CA domain and advocates for better internet speeds in Canada, noting the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's speed target is 25 Mbps while the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has a target of 5 Mbps.

CIRA encourages everyone to test their internet performance and share the results on social media.

"The more data we have, the more we can help to effect policy change on the internet in Canada," the CIRA report states.

• You can test your internet speed here

​​As for the average upload speeds, the Canadian average was 7.26 Mbps. Manitoba came in at 5.22, which is slightly ahead of Alberta (4.95) and British Columbia (5.19) but way ahead of last-place Yukon (1.80).

Once again, New Brunswick led the way at 12.39 Mbps.

• Canada's internet performance on trial with public's help
• CIRA internet performance tests show Western Canada lags

The tests also compared rural and urban areas, showing a wide disparity in Manitoba. The province's urban centres have an average speed of 13.6 Mbps, whereas those in rural areas face a snail's pace of 4.6 Mbps.

When looking at cities across the country, Winnipeg's combined download speed of 13.09 Mbps and upload speed of 3.58 Mbps ranked it 24 out of 25 cities.