Federal regulators are proposing to overhaul Canada’s radio licensing system, introducing perpetual permits and allowing new low-power commercial stations as broadcasters face mounting financial losses.“Radio is in a period of transition,” wrote the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in a new policy paper, Regulatory Policy 2025-265. Blacklock's Reporter said the agency said it aims to “reduce the regulatory burden, modernize its compliance framework, streamline its processes and provide greater flexibility.”Under the proposal, the CRTC would scrap its traditional five-to-seven-year licence renewals and replace them with indefinite licences subject to periodic audits. “To reduce the regulatory burden, the commission is introducing indefinite broadcasting licenses for radio stations,” it wrote. “Licensees will no longer need to submit renewal applications.”.The regulator also plans to expand its “developmental” licence program, which currently applies mainly to small campus or community broadcasters with five-watt transmitters. The new rules would open access to 50-watt licences for community, campus, and commercial operators alike. “Developmental stations will be open to all Canadians,” said the Commission.Canada currently has 747 licensed private radio stations, including 628 FM and 119 AM broadcasters. Private commercial stations account for 81% of the radio market and employ 6,781 people nationwide. Despite $1.1 billion in annual revenues, the sector reported after-tax losses of $72.6 million last year, continuing a trend that began during the pandemic..“The traditional media sector in Canada and almost everywhere else in the world is going through a very difficult time with the arrival of online platforms,” Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault told the Commons heritage committee last September. “Advertising budgets have moved from local newspapers and local radio and television to the web.”Canada’s commercial radio licensing system dates back to 1922, when the first station, CFCF Montréal, was approved by the Department of Fisheries under the Radiotelegraph Act. Sixty-two stations were licensed nationwide that year.
