PCMag study ranks Telus as Canada's fastest major ISP for 2020

A recent study released by PCMag revealed Telus as Canada's fastest internet service provider (ISP) for 2020, unseating Bell Canada, who reigned for the last couple of years. The top spot was usually a battle between Rogers and Bell Canada, with Rogers taking the title for years. But for this year, Telus gets the title of "speed master" when it comes to Canadian ISPs. 

The study focuses on "major" Canadian ISPs. PCMag considers an ISP a major provider if it has at least 500,000 subscribers and typically reaches across multiple provinces. It got it results from 33,782 tests the publication ran between June 1, 2019, and June 2, 2020, using their Speed Test.

Telus edges out Rogers and Bell in all the tests PCMag performed. PCMag's Speed Index gives Telus a score of 153.8, followed closely by Rogers at 147.1, then Bell at 141.1 in third. The fourth to sixth places are occupied by Shaw Communications (130.2), Cogeco (69.5), and Vidéotron (63.8), respectively. PCMag's Speed Index is a weighted combination of the average download and upload speeds. You can check how they calculate the results in this link.

A useful finding the site discovered is there has been a speed increase across the board. Telus saw the most significant boost at 51.5, putting it ahead of the rest. Shaw was the second-largest increase. However, the speed boost wasn't enough to get the ISP out of fourth place. There's only a gap of 24 points between the top four major ISPs.

Aside from reporting on the ISPs' performance, the publication also looked into which areas got the fastest internet. Out of the nine provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have the fastest internet, mostly thanks to high-speed installs from Eastlink, Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, and Rogers. 

All provinces experienced a significant speed increase from 2019. Quebec's speed went down last year, but this time around, it almost doubled the rates from 65.7 to 113.9. Newfoundland more than doubled its speed to achieve an index of 321.3. Saskatchewan becomes the third-fastest province this year with a score of 135.4.

These results excluded Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories because they didn't receive enough response to be included in the story. PCMag also didn't have enough data from Prince Edward Island. 

As for the cities with the fastest internet, Montreal suburb Chambly is in the lead with a score of 493.3. They're followed by the Quebec city named Lévis, which garnered a rating of 435.3, and then Saskatoon with a score of 350.5.