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Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026-149

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Gatineau, 26 June 2026

Public record: 1011-NOC2026-0149

Call for comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Truro, Nova Scotia

Deadline for submission of comments: 27 July 2026

Deadline for submission of replies: 11 August 2026

[Submit an intervention/comment/answer or view related documents]

Summary

The Commission received an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new English-language commercial FM radio station to serve Truro, Nova Scotia. As a result, the Commission is seeking comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Truro. 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 27 July 2026. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. This requirement applies to all interested persons, including the applicant. The deadline to file replies is 11 August 2026.

The Commission expects persons interested in serving the Truro 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.

Background

  1. According to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2014-554 (the Radio Call Policy), when the Commission receives an application for a new radio station, it will generally publish a notice of consultation to seek comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications, unless the application falls under an exception set out in the Radio Call Policy.Footnote 1 Applications for a new radio station or a licence amendment that propose to use one of the last known frequencies in a market are not eligible for such an exception.
  2. The Commission does so to ensure that new radio stations are introduced in a transparent and efficient manner and that the ability of existing radio stations to serve their communities is not compromised. It also aims to provide interested persons with an opportunity to express their views on introducing new radio services prior to a call being issued.

Application for Truro

  1. The Commission received the following application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new English-language commercial FM radio station to serve Truro, Nova Scotia:

    Applicant Type of service Technical parameters Main communities included in the primary contour
    Novacast Media Inc. English-language commercial FM radio station 107.1 MHz (channel 296A) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 4,000 watts Truro
  2. The application does not fall under an exception listed in the Radio Call Policy. Therefore, the Commission is publishing a notice of consultation to seek comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications.

Call for comments

  1. In light of the above, the Commission is seeking comments on the capacity of Truro 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 the public, as well as the applicant, to submit information on how this market is currently being served, the diversity of programming, and the availability of services in this area.
  2. Following the close of record, the Commission will conduct an assessment of the capacity of the market to support an additional station, taking into account comments received during the public consultation and financial data, such as that found in the Broadcasting Financial Summaries and on the Open Data Portal. The Commission may also rely upon reputable sources of publicly accessible dataFootnote 2 to provide contextual information regarding demographics and the economic outlook specific to the area.

  3. As indicated in the Radio Call Policy, 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 (for example, in instances where there is capacity in the market, a number of frequencies of comparable quality [or coverage] are available or there is a low probability of other applications to serve the market);
    • issue a call for applications (for example, in instances where there is capacity in the market, a limited number of frequencies available or a high probability of multiple applications to serve the market); or
    • make a determination that the market cannot sustain additional stations, return the application and issue a decision setting out this determination.

Procedure

  1. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules of Procedure) apply to the present proceeding. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and related documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under Statutes and Regulations. The guidelines set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-959 provide information to help interested persons and parties understand the Rules of Procedure so that they can more effectively participate in Commission proceedings.
  2. The Commission invites comments that address the issues and questions set out above. The Commission will accept interventions that it receives on or before 27 July 2026. Only parties to the proceeding can participate in further stages of the proceeding. The deadline for parties to file replies to matters raised during the intervention phase is 11 August 2026.
  3. Interested persons who wish to become parties to this proceeding must submit an intervention.
  4. Any interested persons can request accommodations to participate in this proceeding. Accommodations could be related to disability, or to other reasons, such as religious observance, or to a combination of reasons. If you wish to request accommodations in filing your comments, you are encouraged to make your request within the first 15 days after this notice of consultation is posted on the Commission’s website.
  5. Interested persons who require assistance submitting comments can contact the Commission’s Hearings & Public Proceedings group at hearing@crtc.gc.ca.
  6. For more information on accessibility and accommodations in Commission proceedings, please see Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2025-95.
  7. Pursuant to Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2015-242, the Commission expects incorporated entities and associations, and encourages all interested persons and parties, to file submissions for Commission proceedings in accessible formats (for example, text-based file formats that allow text to be enlarged or modified, or read by screen readers). To provide assistance in this regard, the Commission has posted on its website guidelines for preparing documents in accessible formats.
  8. Interested persons can coordinate, organize, and file, in a single submission, interventions by other interested persons who share their position. Information on how to file this type of submission, known as a joint supporting intervention, as well as a template for the covering letter to be filed by the parties, can be found in Broadcasting Information Bulletin 2010-28-1.
  9. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary. Each paragraph of all submissions should be numbered, and the line ***End of document*** should follow the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during electronic transmission.
  10. All documents required to be served on parties to the proceeding must be served using the contact information contained in the interventions.
  11. The Commission encourages interested persons to monitor the record of the proceeding, available on the Commission’s website, for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their submissions.

  12. Submissions must be filed by sending them to the Secretary General of the Commission using only one of the following means:

    by completing the
    [Intervention/comment/answer form]

    or

    by mail to
    CRTC, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0N2

    or

    by fax at
    819-994-0218

  13. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, a document must be received by the Commission and all relevant parties by 5 p.m. Vancouver time (8 p.m. Gatineau time) on the date it is due. Parties are responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of their submissions and will not be notified if their submissions are received after the deadline. Late submissions, including those due to postal delays, will not be considered by the Commission and will not be made part of the public record.
  14. The Commission will not formally acknowledge submissions. It will, however, fully consider all submissions, which will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedure for filing set out above has been followed.
  15. Parties who send documents electronically must ensure that they will be able to prove, upon Commission request, that filing or, where required, service of a particular document was completed. Accordingly, parties must keep proof of the sending and receipt of each document for 180 days after the date on which the document is filed or served. The Commission advises parties who file or serve documents by electronic means to exercise caution when using email for the service of documents, as it may be difficult to establish that service has occurred.

Confidentiality notice

  1. The Commission’s proceedings are designed to allow everyone to provide input so that it can make an informed decision in the public interest. As a result, the general rule is that all information filed with the Commission is placed on the public record so that it can be accessed by everyone.
  2. However, the Commission also often needs detailed information from the companies it regulates and supervises to make an informed decision. This information can be commercially sensitive, especially as the environment in which the companies operate becomes more competitive. The Commission will therefore accept certain information as confidential.
  3. Parties can designate information as confidential under subsection 25.3(1) of the Broadcasting Act and provide a detailed rationale as to why that information should be considered confidential. The Commission reminds parties that when a document is filed with confidential information, an abridged version must also be filed so that it can be included in the public record.

Privacy notice

  1. Please note the following:

    • Documents will be posted on the Commission’s website exactly as received, in the official language and format in which they are received. This includes any personal information contained in them, such as full names, email addresses, postal/street addresses, and telephone and fax numbers.
    • All personal information parties provide as part of this proceeding, except information designated as confidential, will be posted on the Commission’s website and can be accessed by others.
    • However, the information parties provide can only be accessed from the web page of this particular proceeding. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website using either its search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this proceeding.
    • Personal information that parties provide may be used by the Commission for the purpose the information was obtained, or for a similar purpose.

Availability of documents

  1. Interested persons can find electronic versions of the interventions and other documents referred to in this notice by clicking on Submit an intervention or view related documents

  2. Documents are available upon request during normal business hours by contacting:

    Documentation Centre
    Examinationroom@crtc.gc.ca

    Client Services
    Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
    Toll-free TTY: 1-877-909-2782

Secretary General

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