Ontario Terminates $92 Million Starlink Contract
Kill fee remains a mystery.
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2025 – It’s breakup season for Elon Musk, with the Ontario government becoming the latest to cut ties.
Ontario Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce announced Wednesday that the province has officially terminated its $92 million contract with Starlink, SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit satellite network.
The contract, signed in November 2024, aimed to provide satellite Internet service to 15,000 locations, primarily in underserved and remote areas across Ontario Canada’s fourth largest province by territory.
“What the province will be doing is we will be paying for the installation and equipment fees,” Ontario Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma stated after the deal was signed.
But tensions between Musk and Ontario officials arose soon after.
In February, Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to end the contract with Starlink in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
Whether the province would follow through on the threat remained unclear, especially as Musk’s close relationship with President Trump began to fray.
However, at a news conference in Toronto, Lecce confirmed the cancellation.
“I can confirm that the premier has fulfilled his word, which is to cancel that contract because of the very reasons he cited in the past,” Lecce said. “We are standing up for Canada.”
Lecce did not reveal how much the early exit will cost the province.
Starlink has been expanding its footprint throughout Canada in recent months. Whether Ontario’s withdrawal will affect the company’s subscription rates remains to be seen.
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