A communication method and apparatus are provided. The method includes: An IAB donor gNodeB determines first indication information, and then sends a first message to an eNB, where the first message includes a first control plane message and the first indication message; and the eNB may determine a first radio bearer based on the first indication information in the received first message, and then sends a second message including the first control plane message to an IAB node by using the first radio bearer. The first radio bearer corresponds to a type of a downlink F1AP message, so that the eNB selects different radio bearers for different types of downlink F1AP messages, thereby providing an effective QoS guarantee for a service of a terminal.