The CRTC has announced that it is calling for applications for a radio licence or licences to serve the urban Aboriginal communities in one or more of the Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver markets.
.The Commission is seeking innovative applications that focus on serving Aboriginal Canadians, regardless of the type of service proposed. Applicants must clearly demonstrate how their proposals fulfill this mandate. Persons interested in responding to this call must submit a duly completed application to the Commission by 12 January 2024
Applicants will be required to provide evidence giving clear indication that there is a demand and a market for the proposed service. This includes demonstrating the needs of the Aboriginal communities in the market(s) in question, how the proposed service(s) will meet them and whether, if there are currently services addressing Aboriginal communities, the market(s) can sustain the proposed additional service(s).
The Commission revoked the broadcasting licences for the following Type B Native radio stations held by Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. (AVR), effective 25 July 2024:
•CKAV-FM Toronto (operating at 106.5 MHz);
•CKAV-FM-2 Vancouver (operating at 106.3 MHz);
•CKAV-FM-3 Calgary (operating at 88.1 MHz);
•CKAV-FM-4 Edmonton (operating at 89.3 MHz); and
•CKAV-FM-9 Ottawa (operating at 95.7 MHz).
By Order of the Federal Court of Appeal dated 21 August 2024, AVR has been granted leave to appeal the decision revoking AVR’s licences in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. The Court also stayed this decision and ordered that AVR’s broadcasting licences for these five radio stations remain in effect subject to the same terms and conditions until final determination of the appeal.
The Commission noted that radio services designed to serve the underserved urban Aboriginal communities in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa could complement existing Aboriginal services in a way that would contribute to fulfilling the objectives of the Broadcasting Act and that there is a pressing need to serve the Aboriginal community as a whole given that issues vitally important to Aboriginal Canadians are not fully covered or addressed at all in non-Native media. As a priority, the Commission stated its intention to issue a call for applications and hold a hearing to license new services that would fulfill this mandate.
It is important to note that the original decisions to license AVR followed a series of competitive processes in 2024 and 2024 and were taken on the basis that its service would serve the public interest and contribute to fulfilling the policy objectives to reflect the special place of Aboriginal peoples within Canadian society. At the time, the Commission was of the view that Canada’s urban Aboriginal communities were not adequately served by radio services.
.Under these unique circumstances, the Commission considers it appropriate to issue a call for applications for services that could fill any gap as it relates to serving Aboriginal Canadians in the above-noted markets, while noting that the Edmonton market is currently served by an Aboriginal radio service, CFWE-FM-4. As indicated earlier, the Commission encourages applicants to consider innovative approaches and is not limiting the type of service that can be proposed. Issuing the call at this time will provide potential applicants with early guidance in developing these innovative proposals and will ensure that if the appeal is denied, the issue of service to the urban Aboriginal communities in these markets can be considered without delay.
Each applicant wishing to be considered as part of this process is required to indicate how the proposed service will meet the needs of Aboriginal Canadians in the market(s), as well as provide all the information requested in the appendices to this document for the type of service that it proposes to operate. An applicant must clearly demonstrate that its application includes the required information and submit the appropriate completed application form. Requests for information by Commission staff will seek to clarify specific facts or resolve minor discrepancies in the applicants’ proposals.
In evaluating the applications received, the Commission will consider how the proposed service will meet the needs of Aboriginal Canadians in the market(s) which it is seeking to serve. To assist the Commission in this evaluation, applicants should consider addressing the following in their applications:
•plans and commitments regarding Aboriginal programming, including how the applicant’s commitments will reflect the interests and needs of the Aboriginal population to be served, foster the development of Aboriginal cultures and help preserve Aboriginal languages;
•the capacity of the proposed business plan, whether commercial or non-commercial, to sustain the programming plans set out in the application; and
•plans to provide for broad participation by the Aboriginal population of the region served in the governance, operation and programming of the station.
In its analysis, the Commission will evaluate the applicant’s programming proposal and commitments in a number of areas. These will include the manner in which the applicant will reflect the local community, including the community’s diversity and distinct nature. Accordingly, the Commission will consider commitments related to local programming and the benefits that such programming will bring to the community.
The Commission will also consider commitments regarding the percentage of Canadian content of musical selections, emerging artists and, where applicable, the percentage of French-language vocal music, as well as contributions to Canadian content development (CCD) for commercial radio proposals.
The Commission does not regulate the format of AM or FM stations that base their programming on popular music. The Commission will however assess the applicant’s business plan in light of the proposed format or programming offering since the two are interrelated. The business plan should clearly demonstrate the applicant’s ability to fulfill its proposed programming plans and commitments. Further, the Commission will examine the programming proposals submitted by the applicants to determine which overall proposal best suits the market.
This factor relates to concerns regarding concentration of ownership and cross-media ownership. The Commission seeks to strike a balance between its concerns for preserving a diversity of news voices in a market and the benefits of permitting increased consolidation of ownership within the industry.
The Commission will therefore assess how approval of the application would add to or serve to maintain the diversity of voices available in the market, as well as increase the diversity of programming available to listeners.
The possibility that licensing too many stations in a market could lead to a reduction in the quality of service to the local community remains of concern to the Commission. The economic condition of the market and the likely financial impact of the proposed station on existing stations in the market will therefore be relevant.
Accordingly, the Commission will evaluate how the proposed station’s programming, general and core target audience and projected audience share overlap that of stations already present in the market. While the Commission may also consider the profitability of existing stations in the market in its assessment of the impact of the proposed station on existing ones, the profitability of existing stations will only be one factor in its evaluation.
In markets with fewer than eight commercial stations operating in a given language, the Commission’s common ownership policy permits a person to own no more than three stations, with a maximum of two in any one frequency band. In markets with eight or more commercial stations, a person may own no more than two FM and two AM stations in any given language. The concentration of ownership resulting from this policy may increase the possibility of competitive imbalance in a radio market.
The Commission will therefore consider factors such as the number of radio stations that an applicant already owns in the market, the profitability of its station(s) and the concentration of ownership in that market in making its licensing decision.
The Commission intends to consider the applications at a public hearing. However, the Commission advises applicants that it will withdraw any application from the public hearing if it is not advised by the Department at least twenty days prior to the first day of the hearing that the application is technically acceptable. The Commission must also be advised by the Department at least twenty days prior to the first day of the hearing that any alternative frequencies proposed by the applicant are technically acceptable. Otherwise those frequencies shall not be considered as part of the proceeding.