Carol Baldwin
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Wakaw Recorder
One of the signature events of Access Communications is the Summer Barbecue Tour.
Last year Access visited 50 Saskatchewan communities, handing out over 10,500 hamburgers and hotdogs. This event also raises funds for the Access Communications Children’s Fund.
Staff travel across the province to thank their customers for their support and meet them first-hand in their home communities. This year the Barbecue Tour came to Wakaw on Thursday, August 15th.
Setting up in front of the Wakaw Heritage Museum, the crew distributed burgers from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and answered questions about the many services offered. Joining Access this year was Ben Brooks, CJWW morning personality, who broadcast live during the event.
Access Communications Co-operative Limited is a 100 per cent Saskatchewan-owned not-for-profit co-operative. The community ownership structure makes Access different than its competition. Assisted by more than 300 employees and another 300 volunteers, the co-operative now serves over 235 communities and 200,000 sq km of rural areas across Saskatchewan, with retail offices in Regina, Weyburn, Estevan, Yorkton, North Battleford, La Ronge and Saskatoon.
Access Communications provides customers across the province with cable television including digital and high-definition services, home security monitoring, a full complement of high-speed and wireless internet, and residential and business phone services. Through AccessNow TV, they provide opportunities for local community groups to develop programming and broaden their exposure base. Access showcases the stories of Saskatchewan and its communities. Co-operative principles are at the heart of ACC’s business, making it a successful, community-minded organization.
Access Communications was established in 1974 as the Regina Cablevision Co-operative. After a prolonged legal and constitutional dispute between the federal and the provincial governments, the co-operative was granted a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licence for broadcast in 1976 and began providing cable television services as Cable Regina on February 14, 1978. In its first years of operations, more than 24,000 households in Regina signed up for cable services.
Cable Regina diversified and extended its reach into other areas of the province in the 1990s, acquiring other cable television providers in Regina Beach, White City, Weyburn, Estevan and Yorkton. In September 1995, the cooperative launched dial-up internet service, followed in 1997 by cable modem broadband service. On April 17, 2000, the co-operative’s name changed to Access Communications, and in the early 2000s, Access Communications merged with the Battlefords Community Cablevision. It further expanded its services in 2007 by launching its primary-line telephone services. Shortly thereafter,
Access Communications was able to expand into smaller communities with the purchase of Persona’s cable operations in Saskatchewan from Halifax-based Eastlink in 2009, to make Access the largest cable television provider in the province. In 2015, Access Communications acquired Askivision and the Saskatoon-based, Little Loon Wireless, which allowed it to deliver fixed-wireless broadband high-speed internet to rural Saskatchewan.
As a not-for-profit co-operative with community-based ownership, Access Communications focuses on reinvesting its revenues in service improvements and promoting and supporting local events and community organizations. It has a charity, the Access Communications Children’s Fund, and a scholarship program. In 2019, the cooperative supported close to 2,000 community groups and was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, one of Saskatchewan’s Top 100 Companies and was named a Caring Company by Imagine Canada in 2017.
Access Communications believes that it is not enough to be in a community, the Access Communications Children’s Fund is another way Access does its part to help youth in Saskatchewan. Access Communications Children’s Fund (ACCF) is a CRA-registered charity that contributes funds and support to youth-based not-for-profit organizations and charities. The Children’s Fund supports projects for children and youth at risk, in need or most vulnerable in the many communities served by Access Communications Co-operative.
This support is made possible through charitable donations from the public, profits from its weekly TV Bingo program, and fundraising initiatives by Access Communications staff members. A donation box was available at the serving table during the recent Community Barbecue hosted by Access Communications in Wakaw.
Since its launch in 1992, the Children’s Fund has donated over $3.5 million to non-profits and charities across the province. In 2023, the ACCF set a record for single-year donations, with 87 community groups across the province receiving $815,752 in funding. Everything from after-school programs to installing new playground equipment, funding is granted to support projects focusing on education and literacy, health and wellness, and social inclusion for children at risk, in need, or experiencing life as the most vulnerable in the province.
Access Communications Children’s Fund TV Bingo is the major fundraising initiative for the ACCF. A prize board of $7,000 – $15,000 each week has people tuning in each week from across the province, at 5:00 p.m. on AccessNow TV. There are 13 games each night: 12 games at $500, and 1 game with a $1,000 prize. Over $7,000-15,000 will be won each week on our prize board. The numbers will be called 10 seconds apart, and a flashboard is onscreen throughout each game. The information on each TV Bingo card is stored by computer, including the serial number, game pattern, and page colour. Viewers will be notified when a bingo is determined, and the Bingo Caller will wait up to 75 seconds for the potential winner to phone in before the next number is called.
Access Communications is committed to empowering high school graduates in our province and their futures. Through the Doug Alexander Scholarship Program, Access awards $1,000 to 20 outstanding students who excel academically and demonstrate strong community engagement. Since 2005, over $440,000 in scholarships have been awarded. This program honours the late broadcaster and former Community Relations Manager, Doug Alexander, who put community first in all he did. Access Communication’s website states that, “Doug believed in the power of volunteering, and that ‘if everyone just did their part, the world would be a better place.’”
Access Communications also sponsors the Doug Alexander Intermediate Camp at Camp Kindling, where youth further their leadership skills, learn more about co-operatives and global development and learn how storytelling and community programming are important in keeping traditions alive and communicating with our communities. These inclusive summer camps are held at Candle Lake and Last Mountain Lake. Access encourages all 12 to 18-year-olds to attend Camp Kindling next summer! Learn more about Camp Kindling at www.campkindling.coop.
