Independent Station (North America) - A List of Notable Canadian Independent Stations, Past and Present

A List of Notable Canadian Independent Stations, Past and Present

While independent stations were not as common in Canada, there were several notable examples of such:

• Barrie, Ontario: CKVR-DT
• Calgary-Lethbridge: CFAC/CICT-CISA-DT
• Edmonton: CITV-DT
• Halifax: CIHF-DT
• Hamilton: CHCH-DT
• London, Ontario: CFPL-DT
• Montreal: CJNT-DT
• Pembroke-Ottawa: CHRO-TV
• St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador: CJON-DT
• Toronto: CKXT-DT, CITY-DT, CFMT-DT
• Winnipeg: CKND-DT, CHMI-DT, CIIT-DT
• Wingham, Ontario: CKNX-TV
• Vancouver: CKVU-DT, CIVT-DT, CHNM-DT, CHNU-DT
• Victoria: CHEK-DT

Since the mid-1990s, most independent television stations in Canada have merged into television systems, such as Citytv or CTV Two, or have become fully owned-and-operated stations of networks with which they had previously had more informal programming arrangements, as with CIHF, CICT and CITV (all now Global stations). However, this trend was partially reversed in 2009 with the demise of Canwest's E! television system, which resulted in three of its stations (Hamilton's CHCH, Montreal's CJNT, and Victoria's CHEK) becoming independent (CJNT subsequently affiliated with Citytv in 2012).

CHCH and CHEK are the only television stations in Canada currently operating as independent stations in the American sense of the term. However, since fall 2010, these two stations (previously along with CJNT) have resumed sharing some common American programming.

CJON in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, while officially unaffiliated with a network, in practice airs a mix of programming sublicensed from Canada's two main commercial networks, CTV and Global, rather than purchasing broadcast rights independently.

Apart from these general-interest stations, some additional independent stations exist in Canada which are mostly community-oriented specialty stations. These stations, such as CFTV-TV in Leamington, Ontario, CFTU-DT in Montreal, and CHCT-TV in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, do not target a general entertainment audience.