(Credit: X/SpaceX)
As some Canadians boycott US products, SpaceX is trying to attract locals by offering them free Starlink dishes. The company updated Starlink.com for Canada to promote the deal, and is posting ads for the offer on X, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also owns.
The promotion is a major discount since the standard Starlink dish is usually $499 CAD ($360). But in return, a customer has to commit to subscribing to the Starlink residential plan for 12 months. The other issue is that SpaceX is only offering the deal in areas where it has plenty of network capacity, as the map below shows.
SpaceX began offering the free Starlink dish last week, starting in Australia and Italy before expanding to Germany. The deal is the company’s biggest effort yet to attract more users as Musk faces public backlash over his politics, including vocal support for President Trump.
Musk's standing is especially low in Canada amid a simmering trade war with the US. Last month, Ontario’s Premier specifically targeted Musk’s business by canceling a $100 million CAD contract to use Starlink in rural and remote areas. In addition, some independent satellite dish installers in the country have reported facing online insults and declining sales for Starlink.
Still, Starlink remains the fastest and most reliable satellite internet provider there, making it indispensable in rural and remote areas, according to the same installers. So, some Canadians struggling with slow broadband could take SpaceX on its offer, despite the calls for a boycott.