ATSC Tuner - Canadian Government Mandates

Canadian Government Mandates

In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has set August 31, 2011 as the date that over-the-air analog TV transmission service will cease in 31 major markets of the country, including all provincial capitals, plus Ottawa (the National Capital), and most other major urban centres.

As of the end of 2008, there were 22 Canadian DTV transmitters on-air and all existing digital transitional television licenses explicitly proscribe as a condition of license, the broadcast of more than fourteen hours a week of programming not already on the analogue service. Unlike in the United States, there is no plan to subsidise ATSC converter purchases and no requirement that newly-imported receivers decode the digital signal. Canadian retailers are also not required to disclose the inability of new equipment to receive DTV. The Canadian market therefore has been flooded with obsolete new NTSC equipment which lawfully cannot be exported to the US. A limited number of ATSC receivers are in Canadian retail stores as high-definition television (HDTV) receivers. ATSC CECB converter boxes were first carried nationally in October 2008, with chains such as Best Buy and Home Hardware offering limited selection at higher prices than in the US with no government subsidies. ATSC tuners may also be present in most recently manufactured televisions, as well as DVD recorders, HDTV FTA receivers and personal computer TV tuner cards.

As of the beginning of 2012, almost all Canadian broadcasters are now broadcasting an ATSC signal, with a handful of exceptions granted for low power and regional stations. These signals can be reliably tuned in most cities with a good indoor antenna and an ATSC tuner. US based ATSC signals can be reliably tuned with an outdoor antenna and an ATSC tuner in Canadian markets within 60 miles of the US broadcast towers. These markets include Toronto (from Buffalo), Windsor (from Detroit), Vancouver (from Seattle and Tacoma), Montreal (from Burlington and Plattsburgh), Ottawa (from Watertown and Plattsburgh), Fredericton (from Presque Isle). Indoor antennas (both passive and amplified) are easier to install, but outdoor antennas are better at tuning stations from further distances.