CRTC Seeking Comments On Issuing Call for Radio Applications to Serve Ottawa

The CRTC has received an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial ethnic radio station to serve Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. The Commission is seeking comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve the Ottawa-Gatineau market. The Commission encourages interested persons, as well as the applicant, to submit additional information that it will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether it should proceed with a call for applications.

The deadline for the receipt of interventions is 5 December 2024. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline to file replies is 15 December 2024.

The Commission expects persons interested in serving the Ottawa-Gatineau radio market to express their interest during the intervention period. Should little or no interest be expressed to serve that radio market, the Commission may publish the application for consideration during the non-appearing phase of a public hearing rather than issue a call for applications.

The Commission set out its procedure for issuing calls for applications for broadcasting licences to operate radio stations. According to that procedure, applications for new radio stations in markets of all sizes will generally result in the issuance of a call for applications with the following exceptions:

• proposals with very little or no commercial potential or impact, including some low-power applications;
• proposals to provide the first commercial service in a market;
• proposals by the sole commercial operator in a market to improve service to the market, either through an AM to FM conversion or a new station;
• proposals to provide the first commercial service in the other official language in a market or to convert the only station in the other official language from AM to FM; and
• proposals to convert stations from AM to FM in markets with two or fewer commercial operators.

The Commission will also take into account the availability or scarcity of spectrum when considering applications that propose to use one of the last known frequencies in a market. Such applications will not be eligible to be considered under one of the exceptions to the issuance of a call.

Upon receipt of an application that does not fall within one of the exceptions to the issuance of a call, the Commission will publish a notice of consultation to seek comment on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call. The Commission will also publish the following information in the notice of consultation: the applicant’s name, the type of service proposed (commercial mainstream or specialty, community, campus, etc.), the technical parameters proposed (frequency, band, broadcast power) and a sampling of the main communities included in the primary contour of the proposed station’s coverage.

The Commission announces that it has received the following application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial radio station to serve Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec:

In light of the above, the Commission calls for comments on the capacity of the Ottawa-Gatineau market to support a new station and on whether it should issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve this community. The Commission encourages interested persons, as well as the applicant, to submit additional information that it will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether to proceed with a call for applications.

Following receipt of comments, the Commission will conduct an assessment of the capacity of the Ottawa-Gatineau market to support an additional station, taking into account economic and financial data as well as the comments received in the public consultation.

The Commission will weigh factors such as market capacity, spectrum availability or scarcity and interest by other parties in serving the market when deciding whether to:

• publish the application for consideration during the non-appearing phase of a public hearing;
• issue a call for applications; or
• make a determination that the market cannot sustain additional stations, return the application and issue a deci