Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dennis Dura, who shares the following article from Radio World about the impending shutdown of Canada’s iconic CHU shortwave time station.
We’ve covered CHU’s imminent closure several times here on the SWLing Post, but this Radio World piece provides a particularly nice overview of the station’s history, purpose, and enduring significance to the radio community. It’s well worth a read, especially if CHU has ever been one of those familiar signals on your dial.
Read the article here:
https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/canadas-chu-shortwave-time-station-to-be-silenced
The canadian government now has no government frequencies or infrastructure that could be used in an emergency to broadcast messages to its citizens. We dont have FEMA, CAP or the National Guard.
We will rely on IP networks and the Internet to find out the weather or safety information if available. Or maybe rely on ARES to inform us or maybe rely on your own weather station.
The telephone line to hear the time signal will be retained. We can save $50 a month so get rid of that immediately.
Sorry, we have no NOAA or WWV or US alcohol and wine in our stores…..still want to visit us?
Maybe they know the Over the Horizon Backscatter Radar or the Australian woodpecker as it will be called will be a joy to watch it interfere with HF traffic. Its being deployed 1 hour from Downtown Toronto so nice and close.
Wheres RAC putting up a fight?
The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada has not publicly isolated the exact line-item budget or specific dollar amount saved by taking shortwave station **CHU** offline on June 22, 2026.
However, looking at the macro budget context and the operational realities of high-power HF broadcast stations, the decision breaks down into a few clear factors:
### 1. The Broader Fiscal Context
The decommissioning of CHU’s shortwave transmitters is part of the NRC’s broader **2026–27 Departmental Plan**. This strategy requires the research council to find **$95 million** in spending reductions for the upcoming fiscal year, a target that scales up to a **$190 million** annual reduction by 2028–29.
In the grand scheme of the NRC’s $1.72 billion core budget, CHU’s operational costs are a tiny fraction—often described by critics as a “rounding error”—but the cut reflects a government-wide push to restrain day-to-day operational spending.
### 2. Operational Cost Realities
While the atomic clocks, primary time-scale infrastructure, and network time protocol (NTP) servers must be maintained regardless at the laboratory in Ottawa to preserve Canada’s official time link (UTC-NRC), the physical shortwave transmission infrastructure incurs distinct costs:
* **Power Consumption:** Operating continuous AM transmitters (3 kW on 3.330 MHz and 14.670 MHz, and 5 kW on 7.850 MHz) requires a steady, substantial draw from the electrical grid.
* **Physical Plant & Hardware Maintenance:** The aging transmitter site near Barrhaven/South Gloucester requires specialized engineering oversight, tube replacements, and antenna farm maintenance. Industry estimates for basic utility, hardware upkeep, and administrative overhead for a site of this scale typically run anywhere from **$250,000 to $500,000 CAD annually**.
### 3. The Cost-Benefit Pivot
The decision to shut down the shortwave side of the operation ultimately stems from modern utility. With cell towers, the internet (via NTP servers), and GPS providing free, highly precise timing references across the country, the NRC determined that maintaining a legacy high-frequency radio broadcast could no longer be justified in a strict cost-benefit analysis.