Ontario cancels Starlink contract
August 5, 2025
By Chris Forrester
Canada’s anti-Trump sentiment has manifested itself in a major loss to Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system.
The Canadian province of Ontario has cancelled an order for Starlink services worth $100 million (€86.6m) and intended to connect 15,000 rural and isolated homes in the region.
The deal was originally announced in November 2024 and helped by a thrust by the Ontario government and directed at Donald Trump’s administration and in a wish that the US would grant Ontario more favourable terms under the US new tariff announcements.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cancel the contract in February if US tariffs on Canadian goods were imposed. Not helping matters were continuous comments from Trump that Canada should be the 51st state of the US.
There will be a penalty to pay for the cancellation.
Elon Musk is a – somewhat bizarrely given his past support for the Trump administration – a citizen of Canada. His mother was born in Canada.
Ford also banned American companies from bidding on $30 billion worth of procurement contracts the province awards each year.
Ontario premier Ford has also banned US companies from bidding on contracts related to the province’s $200-billion infrastructure plan to build highways, tunnels, transit, hospitals, and jails.
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