From a social policy perspective, the changes in the scope and complexity of services which are expected to be delivered online, and the reliance (both immediately and perhaps increasingly in the near future) by the many individuals and community organizations on state-of-the-art infrastructure to provide access and services raises questions about what the new roles and responsibilities should be for the federal and provincial governments, and community organizations.

With communications being a federal mandate, there will need to be some federal role. Existing policy frameworks, such as the New Economy, Information Highway and Connecting Canadians, Innovation and, Learning and Skills Agenda, may provide opportunities to rethink support for public access, as well as for online content and services.

While the Internet and how it is being used has matured and become more sophisticated over the past few years, there has been a lag in revisiting the concordance of social policy with this.¹¹ The digital divide will not be a quick fix! As with other sectors in society (e.g., education, health), social policy towards the Internet will need to be continually revised to address changing conditions in the market place, communities and the socio-economic circumstances of individuals.

¹¹ Social policy is defined here as including social, cultural and citizenship interests and activities.