Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2022-334

Ottawa, 7 December 2022

Revised conditions of licence for commercial AM and FM radio stations

In the appendix to Public Notice 1999-137, the Commission established a list of conditions of licence applicable to licensees of commercial AM and FM radio stations.
In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2009-62, the Commission updated those conditions of licence to take into account the results of revisions to its policies for radio that had occurred since Public Notice 1999-137 was published.
In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2022-332, which sets out the new policy for commercial radio, the Commission decided to no longer apply its hits policy to the Ottawa-Gatineau and Montréal markets. Condition of licence 9 set out in the appendix to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2009-62 has therefore been deleted. The revised standard conditions of licence for AM and FM radio stations are set out in the appendix to this document.

Secretary General

If the licensee originates 42 or more hours of programming in any broadcast week, the licensee shall adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Equitable Portrayal Code, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission. However, the application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended if the licensee is a member in good standing of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
The licensee shall adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast code for advertising to children, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
The licensee shall not affiliate with or disaffiliate from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation without the prior written approval of the Commission.
Subject to condition of licence 5, the undertaking shall be operated on the basis of the contours and particulars contained in the approved application.
The licence is also subject to any other conditions of licence that are specified in the most recent renewal decision (other than an administrative renewal) or, if there has been no renewal, in the initial licensing decision and in any subsequent written authorizations granted during the term of this licence.

As outlined in Services using the vertical blanking interval (television) or subsidiary communications multiplex operation (FM), Public Notice CRTC 1989-23, 23 March 1989, as amended from time to time, the licensee shall not use its subsidiary communications multiplex operation channel without the prior written approval of the Commission in order to distribute ethnic programs, where the time devoted to these programs represents more than 15% of the broadcast week and the service area overlaps an area already served by an ethnic station.
Subject to condition of licence 5, this station shall not be operated within the Specialty format, as defined in A review of certain matters concerning radio, Public Notice CRTC 1995-60, 21 April 1995, as amended from time to time.
Subject to condition of licence 5, for commercial FM stations serving markets other than single-station markets (Local programming policy for FM radio – Definition of a single-station market, Public Notice CRTC 1993-121, 17 August 1993) the licensee shall refrain from soliciting or accepting local advertising for broadcast during any broadcast week when less than one-third of the programming aired is local. The definition of local programming shall be as set out in Commercial Radio Policy 2006, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2006-158, 15 December 2006, as amended from time to time.