OTTAWA – Fifty-seven campus and community radio stations are sharing nearly $1 Million from the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) to help them serve the needs of their communities all across Canada.
The funding is a result of the CRFC’s new program, Radiometres: Measuring the development, participation and sustainability of campus and community radio stations. All funded projects aim at improving local programming or increasing the volunteer and community participation in the stations activities.
"We had high expectations for Radiometres. We created this program based on some of the core needs of our stations, while balanced with goals of the industry for the sector around local Canadian content and supporting volunteers – the individuals creating that content," says CRFC President John Harris Stevenson. "Looking at the first recipients of Radiometres, I am inspired by these initiatives and confident that they not only meet these goals but also further increase the relevancy of these stations for their listeners."
Many of these stations have received funding from the CRFC in previous years under other programs. However, Radiometres attracted new applicants, including Canoe Radio, in Haliburton, Ontario.
"We are thrilled to have been awarded a Radiometres grant. It will enable us to develop and implement a much needed Volunteer Management Program. We know that a well-developed training program will improve the skills and confidence of our volunteers and we hope it will encourage new volunteers to get involved with our station. Our donors and supporters will see that we are a strong, vibrant, successful Community Radio Station that is willing to invest in its volunteers," said CKHA manager Roxanne Casey.
Norbert Robichaud, vice-president of Radio MirAcadie (CKMA) in Miramichi, New Brunswick, added that the funding “Will allow us to ensure the success of our next development phase and will contribute to the francization of our communities in a minority situation. We will train new volunteers to support the only employee at our station. Our programming schedule will be diversified, our content will be improved, our presence in the communities will be increased and social activities will be organized in different regions to promote and raise funds."
Most of the funding for Radiometres is provided by Canada’s private radio broadcasters through a portion of their Canadian Content Development (CCD) contributions, a funding mechanism established by the CRTC. However, the CRFC has also received contributions from SiriusXM Canada, the country’s satellite radio distributor. Over the last three years, they have provided a total of $600,000 to support the sector.
