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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-156

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 11 April 2025

Gatineau, 23 June 2025

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta

Public record: 2025-0091-7

CHFA-10-FM Edmonton and its transmitter CHFA-6-FM Fort McMurray – Technical amendments

  1. The Commission has the authority, pursuant to subsection 9(1) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act), to issue licences for the carrying on of broadcasting undertakings and to amend those licences.
  2. Consistent with this authority, the Commission approves an application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to amend the technical parameters of CHFA-6-FM Fort McMurray Alberta, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the French-language radio programming undertaking CHFA-10-FM Edmonton, Alberta, which broadcasts the programming of the national, French-language network service ICI Première. Specifically, the CBC proposed to change the class of the transmitter from B to A, to reduce the effective radiated power (ERP) from 20,000 to 3,319 watts, to increase the effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 51.8 to 56.2 metres and to update the geographical coordinates of the transmitter. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  4. When a licensee files an application for technical amendments, the Commission generally requires the licensee to present compelling technical or economic evidence justifying the requested technical amendments. In this case, the CBC wishes to ensure the continuity of the service quality of its ICI Première service to the population of Fort McMurray and its vicinity. It indicated that the proposed amendments are necessary since CHFA-6-FM’s antenna is timeworn and that the population served is at high risk of signal loss. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need justifying the requested amendments.
  5. Pursuant to subsection 22(1) of the Act, this authority will only be effective when the Department of Industry (also known as Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued.
  6. The licensee must implement the technical amendments by no later than 23 June 2027. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using the form 300 available on the Commission’s website.
  7. As set out in section 16 of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations), licensees have obligations relating to the broadcast of emergency alert messages received from the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System. In regard to the authorized contours of CHFA-6-FM resulting from the implementation of the technical amendments approved in this decision, the Commission reminds the licensee that continued compliance with section 16 of the Regulations may require that any alert broadcast decoders (e.g., ENDEC) used for the purposes of broadcasting emergency alert messages on CHFA-10-FM, or on any rebroadcasting transmitters that may appear on the broadcasting licence for that station, be reprogrammed to properly account for the new authorized contours.

Secretary General

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

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