Beacon
PilotFree local updates & alerts for neighbourhoods, campuses, towns, and events.
Visit onbeacon.caCanadian Public-Interest Infrastructure
Canada needs digital infrastructure built in the public interest.
Canadians should not have to rely entirely on foreign advertising platforms to communicate, organize, and access local information.
Commonet is building a new generation of Canadian digital infrastructure focused on trust, resilience, privacy, and public benefit.
Communication infrastructure matters
Communication infrastructure increasingly shapes emergency response, civic participation, education, journalism, and community resilience.
As more of that infrastructure becomes dependent on foreign platforms optimized for engagement and extraction, communities lose ownership, visibility, and control over how they communicate.
Canada has a history of building shared infrastructure when something becomes essential to public life. Digital communication is now part of that story.
Public-interest Pilots
Northpost
RegisterA free Canadian email service with no ads, no tracking, and no foreign surveillance.
Visit northpost.caThese are early public-interest infrastructure pilots designed to strengthen trusted Canadian communication and knowledge systems.
A coalition effort
Commonet is bringing together communities, institutions, technologists, municipalities, researchers, funders, and citizens who believe Canada can build essential digital systems in the public interest.
This is still early.
That is exactly why participation matters now.
How you can participate
- Pilot Beacon in communities, campuses, and civic networks.
- Support infrastructure funding and coalition capacity.
- Contribute technical and implementation expertise.
- Form institutional partnerships across sectors and regions.
- Test early tools and shape standards through feedback.
- Advance Canadian digital sovereignty and public-interest policy work.
Join the Coalition
Tell us who you are, what you are building, and how you would like to collaborate.