{"id":19729,"date":"2026-04-28T05:10:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19729"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:33:54","slug":"copper-theft-is-more-than-a-telecom-industry-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19729","title":{"rendered":"Copper theft is more than a telecom industry problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Copper<\/a>Canada\u2019s telecom sector has been sounding the alarm<\/a> about copper theft for years. Now, the Senate\u2019s Standing Committee on Transport and Communications has delivered the most comprehensive federal examination<\/a> to date. Its findings confirm what carriers, utilities, and first responders have been living daily: copper theft isn’t a petty crime; it is a direct threat to critical infrastructure, public safety, and the functioning of modern communities.<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s report, Stolen Signal: The Costly Consequences of Copper Theft in Canada<\/em>, [pdf<\/a>, 700KB] lays out a stark picture. Since 2022, Canadian carriers have recorded more than 1,300 theft incidents, with Bell alone reporting over 1,650 security incidents, 88% of which involved copper. TELUS quantified the human impact: more than 200 million minutes of lost service affecting 170,000 customers, with rural communities hit hardest. Rogers reported outages spanning 10 federal ridings and affecting 35,000 Canadians in a single wave of vandalism.<\/p>\n

The consequences are not abstract. Copper theft has shut down airport ticketing systems, blocked emergency calls, halted small\u2011business transactions, and left entire communities isolated for hours \u2014 sometimes days. In Grande Cache, Alberta, TELUS reported four community\u2011wide outages in 18 months due to copper theft. Electricity Canada described hundreds of annual incidents across the grid, including cases where thieves triggered life\u2011threatening injuries and traumatized utility workers.<\/p>\n

The Senate report makes clear that copper theft is not simply a telecom problem. It is a cascading\u2011risk problem. Communications outages disrupt emergency services, financial systems, transportation, and health care \u2014 all sectors identified as critical infrastructure under Canada\u2019s national strategy. The interdependencies mean a single cut cable can ripple across multiple essential services.<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s recommendations call for:<\/p>\n