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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-202

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 27 May 2025

Gatineau, 11 August 2025

Cogeco Media Inc.
Hawkesbury, Ontario

Public record: 2025-0053-7

CHPR-FM Hawkesbury – 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 the application by Cogeco Media Inc. (Cogeco) to amend the technical parameters of the French-language FM radio programming undertaking CHPR-FM Hawkesbury, Ontario. Specifically, Cogeco proposed to decrease the maximum effective radiated power (ERP) from 780 to 680 watts, to decrease the average ERP from 780 to 414 watts, to decrease the effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 21.0 to ‑3.4 metres, to move the broadcasting transmitter to an existing tower owned by Cogeco Connexion Inc., and to amend the coordinates of the transmitter. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. This decision was subjected to a consultation period dedicated to the official language minority community (OLMC) of Hawkesbury. The requested technical amendments would lead to amendments to the contours, which could adversely impact the community served by the station. As such, the Commission sent a letter to the OLMC members of Hawkesbury, known by the Commission, to inform them of the publication of this application and invite them to file interventions as part of the additional intervention period reserved for them.
  4. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  5. When a licensee files an application for technical amendments, the Commission requires the licensee to present compelling technical or economic evidence justifying the requested amendments. In this case, Cogeco indicated that the technical amendments are necessary because CHPR-FM’s site is timeworn. Specifically, it submitted that the building’s structure needs to be rebuilt, the tower uses an old AM tower, the power line coming from the street is in poor condition and must be replaced at its expense, the building is affected by several other problems that regularly cause outages, and there is no on-site generator. It added that the current site is also impacted by other technical problems that affect the operational reliability. Cogeco specified that the proposed site is the one that would allow it to keep the current contours as much as possible.
  6. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested technical amendments.
  7. 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.
  8. The licensee must implement the technical amendments by no later than 11 August 2027. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using Form 300 available on the Commission’s website.
  9. 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. The implementation of the technical amendments approved in this decision could result in changes to CHPR-FM’s authorized contours. 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 CHPR-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.
  10. This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Secretary General

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