Wireless microphone frequencies in Canada

Canada is the easiest international job a US mixer takes, and the easiest one to get wrong. The border is a drive rather than a flight, the crew speaks English, the call sheet looks identical — and almost none of the spectrum assumptions that work at home survive the crossing. The FCC licence in the case doesn't apply, and the band the gear is built around is not the band Canada licenses wireless microphones in.

There is no unlicensed option

In the United States the overwhelming majority of working mixers operate unlicensed under Part 15 and never file anything. Canada does not offer that path in the core wireless microphone bands. Equipment certified to RSS-123, Licensed Wireless Microphones, is subject to licensing under subsection 4(1) of the Radiocommunication Act. The word *Licensed* is in the title of the standard for a reason. Transmitters in the FM band 88–107.5 MHz are required to carry an on-device notice stating that a licence is required to operate them.

Two eligibility tiers

The licensing procedure is CPC-2-1-11, and it splits applicants into two groups. Which group you fall into decides which half of the table above is even available to you.

General eligibility

For the lower bands, eligibility follows subsection 9(1) of the Radiocommunication Regulations — the ordinary test that applies to radio licence applicants generally.

Restricted eligibility

For 941.5–959.85 MHz and 6930–7125 MHz, eligibility is limited to broadcasters and other program producers, large venue operators and owners, professional sound companies, and theatre, music and sporting event organizations. Most travelling production sound work sits inside that list — but it is a defined list, not an open door.

Fees

Set out in RIC-42, charged per frequency channel. Budget for the count of channels you intend to license, not for a single flat permit.

The part nobody can answer in advance

Treat that gap as a scheduling item, not a paperwork item. If the licence path for your specific situation has to be established by phone with a district office, that conversation belongs in pre-production alongside carnets and work permits, not the week of the shoot.

What RF Scout shows for a Canadian address

RF Scout scores Canadian addresses on a separate band table. It models TV channels 14–36 (470–608 MHz) as TV white space in the style of RSS-210, plus the 653–663 MHz duplex gap as limited operation. Treat both of those as an occupancy picture only: RSS-123, the standard that actually governs licensed wireless microphones in Canada, contains no 470–608 MHz or duplex-gap microphone allocation, so a clear-looking channel there is not evidence of an entitlement to use it. Channel 37 (608–614 MHz) is hard-blocked for radio astronomy, and the 600 MHz band — 617–652 and 663–698 MHz, reallocated to Rogers, Bell, Telus and others under ISED DGSO-005-19 in 2019 — is hard-blocked as carrier spectrum.

Before you drive north

• Confirm what your transmitters physically tune. If nothing in the bag reaches an RSS-123 band, the licensing question is moot and the answer is different gear — see choosing blocks when you travel.
• Contact the ISED district office covering your location, via RIC-66, and ask directly how a foreign production licenses wireless microphones there.
• Count your channels before you ask about cost. RIC-42 fees are per frequency channel.
• Establish which eligibility tier applies to the production entity — the restricted tier for 941.5–959.85 MHz and 6930–7125 MHz is a defined list.
• Do not assume the US answer transfers. Your FCC licence, and the unlicensed Part 15 habit underneath it, both stop at the border.

One thing does transfer intact: the physics. Intermod maths, walk tests and antenna placement work exactly the same in Toronto as in Atlanta. See coordinating frequencies in a multichannel bag and scanning and walk testing — those skills are portable even when the spectrum isn't.