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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-368

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 26 September 2025

Gatineau, 19 December 2025

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Public record: 2025-0439-9

CBK-1-FM Saskatoon – 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 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to amend the technical parameters of the English-language radio programming undertaking CBK-1-FM Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which broadcasts the programming of the national, English-language network service Radio One. Specifically, the CBC proposed to change the class of the transmitter from A to B, to increase the effective radiated power (ERP) from 4,100 to 32,183 watts, to increase the effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 62.3 to 175.3 metres, and to relocate the transmitter. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  4. When a licensee files an application for technical amendments, the Commission requires the licensee to present compelling technical or economic evidence justifying the requested amendments. In this case, the CBC submitted that the current transmitter and related equipment are timeworn and now pose a high risk of signal loss in the Saskatoon region. The proposed amendments would also allow the licensee to combine CBK-1-FM with its existing antenna system at its site in Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, which would improve operational efficiency and eliminate the lease cost. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested amendments.
  5. 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.
  6. The licensee must implement the technical amendments by no later than 19 December 2027. 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.
  7. 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 CBK-1-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 CBK-1-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.
  8. This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Secretary General

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