The federal government has approved the multibillion-dollar merger of telecom companies Rogers and Shaw, but with conditions that Ottawa insists will make the deal good for consumers.

François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry, said at a news conference Friday that the government has approved the transaction first proposed in 2021.

As part of the deal, Shaw’s wireless business, Freedom Mobile, will be sold to Quebec-based Videotron.

The approval comes with 21 conditions that the government says are “legally enforceable,” including that Videotron will start to offer plans that are comparable to those currently available in Quebec and they can’t sell the wireless assets to anyone else for at least a decade.

Videotron must also:

• Offer 5G service everywhere Freedom currently operates within two years.
• Offer service in Manitoba via MVNO.
• Increase the data allotments for existing Freedom customers by 10 per cent.

“Today, I am informing Canadians that I have secured on their behalf unprecedented and legally binding commitments from Rogers and Videotron. And, after imposing strict conditions, the spectrum licences of Freedom Mobile will be transferred to Videotron,” Champagne said.

While Shaw’s mobile business and its more than two million wireless customers will move to Quebecor, Rogers will take over Shaw’s media and cable assets, most of which are in Western Canada. But Champagne says those assets are also subject to numerous conditions.

They include a requirement to create 3,000 jobs in Western Canada, to spend billions to expand its broadband and wireless networks and to offer new lower cost plans to consumers in both.

“Should the parties fail to live up to any of their commitments, our government will use every means in our power to enforce the terms on behalf of Canadians,” Champagne said, noting that Rogers is subject to financial penalties of up to $1 billion for non-compliance.

WATCH | Minister gives conditional OK to telecom merger:

Videotron, for its part, is on the hook for up to $200 million in penalties if it doesn’t live up to its end of the bargain.

“This transfer follows a series of agreements signed by the parties that will ensure that this new national fourth player will be in it for the long haul, be able to go toe to toe with the Big Three, and actually drive down prices across Canada,” Champagne said, pitching the deal as a win for consumers.

But Canadians have heard promises like that before — including when the government opened up Canada’s wireless industry to new players like Freedom in the first place in 2008.

And yet, cellular prices in Canada continue to be among the highest in the world. Consumer watchdog group OpenMedia called Friday’s news that the merger had been approved “a dark day for the Internet in Canada.”

“Today’s decision is the largest blow to telecommunications competition and affordability we’ve ever seen,” executive director Laura Tribe said after the news came out. 

The approval by government is the final step in a lengthy process that started 746 days ago, when Toronto-based Rogers first proposed to take over Calgary-based Shaw in a deal with a $26-billion price tag — $20 billion of equity for Shaw shareholders, along with assuming $6 billion of the company’s debt.

The deal faced intense opposition from the start, and numerous regulatory agencies weighed in along the way. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) signed off on the broadcasting part of the deal last year.

Canada’s Competition Bureau fought hard against the deal, but ultimately lost in a tribunal ruling last year.

Shareholders of all companies involved have already signed off on the pact that will further consolidate Canada’s telecom landscape.