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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2026-173

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 2 April 2026

Gatineau, 16 July 2026

KCVI Educational Radio Station Incorporated
Kingston, Ontario

Public record: 2023-0616-7

CKVI-FM Kingston – 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 KCVI Educational Radio Station Incorporated (KCVI) to amend the technical parameters of the low-power English-language community FM radio programming undertaking CKVI-FM Kingston, Ontario. Specifically, KCVI proposed to increase the effective radiated power (ERP) from 30 to 1,772 watts, to replace the transmitter to accommodate the proposed increase in ERP, and to decrease the effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 33.5 to 30.1 metres. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged. The applicant stated that its intent is to convert its low-power non-protected station into a regular power, protected Class A station.Footnote 1
  3. The Commission received an intervention in support from the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA) in regard to this application. The NCRA highlighted CKVI-FM’s community-focused programming, governance, and training opportunities. It expressed the view that the proposed technical amendments would be in the public interest and would allow CKVI-FM to reach listeners in the metropolitan area of Kingston and in surrounding municipalities.
  4. In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2014-554, the Commission determined that licensees of low-power radio stations must apply for new licences to convert to regular-power, which required the application to be processed via a public hearing. The Commission has since streamlined this process by determining, in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2025-265, that, going forward, such conversions can be requested through Part 1 applications, which include a public consultation but do not require a public hearing. However, in case of frequency scarcity, the Commission may not consider the application right away and may first consider the appropriateness of publishing a call for applications in that market.
  5. In this case, the licensee’s proposal for continued use of the 91.9 MHz frequency would not affect the availability of frequencies in this market. Accordingly, the Commission can assess the requested amendments at this time and is doing so as a Part 1 application.
  6. 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 amendments. However, as an exception to this general approach, the Commission may also approve applications that do not present compelling technical or economic evidence, but where approval is in the public interest and warranted by the particular circumstances of the licensee. Such applications are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. These evaluations take into account the specifics of each station’s situation, including details such as the type of station and the community to be served.
  7. In this case, the applicant did not include technical or economic reasons for the proposed amendments. However, the Commission notes the intervention received in support of the proposed amendments and considers that by increasing the station’s footprint, the licensee would be able to serve a wider audience with its local community programming and increase the diversity of programming in the area. Additionally, approving the application would be consistent with the policy objectives of the Act that emphasize the importance of the community element of the broadcasting system. Further, the requested amendments would enable the licensee to benefit from protected status and an exclusive, interference-free frequency, which would provide it with greater general stability. Finally, given that CKVI-FM does not engage in any commercial activities, the proposed amendments would not have an undue economic impact on incumbent stations. In light of the above, the Commission considers that approval of the application would be in the public interest.
  8. 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.
  9. The licensee must implement the technical amendments by no later than 16 July 2028. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using Form 300, which is available on the Commission’s website.
  10. 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 CKVI-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 CKVI-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.
  11. This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Secretary General

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