SSi Canada
SSi Canada is a private Canadian telecom company that provides internet in remote areas using broadband and satellite. It also offers satellite communications and builds internet systems for other ISPs. Founded in 1990 in Fort Providence by Jeffrey Philipp, it is based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
The company mainly serves Nunavut (all 25 communities) and the Northwest Territories (AirWare network). It also sells services internationally to Africa, Indonesia, and Kiribati. SSi used Motorola Expedience equipment and later upgraded to 4G-LTE in 2016–17. Instead of selling directly to customers, SSi’s Nunavut service Qiniq, and the Northwest Territories service AirWare, are run by local community service providers in each community who sign up users and handle local support.
Key milestones include opening a Yellowknife branch in 1995; by 2008 it was the largest Northern Canada ISP under Qiniq in Nunavut and AirWare in the Northwest Territories. It launched the first 2.5 GHz NLOS service in Yellowknife in 2004, and through the BRAND program and Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation won the 2004 RFP to build Nunavut’s network, launching Qiniq in 2005. In 2010 SSi began operating the Government of Nunavut’s WAN, and in 2012 opened a satellite teleport in Ottawa to connect the North to the global Internet. The company has lobbied for fair pricing and open competition before the CRTC and sponsors local nonprofits.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:07 (CET).