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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-135

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Gatineau, 11 June 2025

Radio communautaire francophone de Montréal inc.
Montréal, Quebec

CIBL-FM Montréal – Administrative renewal

  1. The Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the following commercial radio programming undertaking from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2027.
    Licensee Call sign and locality
    Radio communautaire francophone de Montréal inc. CIBL-FM Montréal, Quebec
  2. This two-year administrative renewal will allow time for the Commission to modernize its regulatory framework in response to the modernized Broadcasting Act and implement the appropriate changes. This renewal does not address any issues relating to the licensee’s compliance with the terms of its licence or its regulatory obligations. The Commission will consider the licence renewal and the licensee’s compliance at a later date. Interested persons will have an opportunity to comment at the appropriate time.
  3. The Online Streaming Act deemed obligations that previously existed as conditions of licence to be conditions imposed under an order made pursuant to section 9.1 of the Broadcasting Act or subsection 11.1(2) in the case of expenditure requirements. As such, the conditions of licence for this licensee became conditions of service which exist independent of the licence and continue to apply to the licensee.
  4. The Commission reminds the licensee that, at all times, it may submit any new application related to its radio undertaking where it can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances would justify the need to process it. As outlined in Change to the processing time for applications and complaints relating to radio undertakings, Broadcasting Information Bulletin CRTC 2023-278, 22 August 2023, such application will be excluded from normal service standards and will be processed as time and resources permit.

Secretary General

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Dissenting opinion of Commissioner Ellen C. Desmond, K.C.

  1. My colleagues have approved the administrative renewal of the broadcasting license for Radio communautaire francophone de Montréal inc. for a period of two years from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2027.
  2. As noted in the majority decision, granting this renewal would allow the Commission time to update its regulatory framework in response to the modernized Broadcasting Act and implement the appropriate changes.
  3. With the greatest respect to my colleagues, I disagree with the renewal in the current context. While the administrative renewal process may be expedient and provide the Commission with much needed time to deal with legislative changes, the renewal imposes the same terms and conditions that were approved in August 2023, and which were intended to last for a period of only two years. With this administrative renewal, that timeline has extended to almost four years.
  4. The majority has concluded the administrative renewal process does not prevent the licensee from submitting an application in advance of the next license renewal should they wish to do so. Yet, in so doing, must demonstrate that “exceptional circumstances exist”. This is because, as set out in Broadcasting Information Bulletin 2023-278, the Commission imposed a moratorium on the processing of such new applications. In effect, absent such exceptionality, an application will not be processed, thereby leaving the applicant with no recourse to deal with other issues.
  5. Given the moratorium, I am not able to conclude that this administrative renewal is in the public interest at this time.
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