CJFO-FM (branded as ''94,5 Unique FM'') is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

which broadcasts a

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

format on the frequency 94.5 FM/

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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, Canada. Owned by Radio de la communauté francophone d'Ottawa (RCFO), the station received CRTC approval on February 4, 2010. The station officially launched at 6 a.m. on November 15, 2010 after a testing period that began in September 2010. While the Ottawa-

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

market is served by several francophone stations, CJFO is the first station in the market targeted specifically to the

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians ( or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to the Government of Ontario, ther ...

audience in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. The commercial francophone outlets are licensed to Gatineau and primarily target listeners on the Quebec side of the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

. The Radio-Canada outlets focus on not only the National Capital Region, but Canada as a whole. The station is the francophone radio broadcast partner for the Ottawa Senators and the Ottawa Titans. CJFO's studios are located in Vanier, while its transmitter is located in Camp Fortune, Quebec. The station is a member of the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada.

History

On August 26, 2008, RCFO's first attempt to obtain a license was denied by the CRTC. The initial application would have had the station broadcast at 101.7 MHz, with an average effective radiated power of 718 watts. On November 21, 2008, federal Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore issued a statement calling on the CRTC to review its prior approval of two new stations in the Ottawa area, Astral Media's CJOT-FM and Frank Torres' CIDG-FM. Moore asked the commission to assess whether the francophone population of the Ottawa-Gatineau area was sufficiently well-served by existing French radio services, and to consider licensing one or more of the French language applications — which included a

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

station, a

station and a campus radio station for the Université du Québec en Outaouais — in addition to or instead of the approved stations. In the resulting round of hearings, Torres proposed that a new francophone station could be licensed on 94.5 FM, although such a station would be second-adjacent to Astral's CIMF-FM. Industry Canada subsequently aired a testing signal on 94.5 in May 2009 to determine whether the signal could be used without impacting CIMF.Scott Fybush
"On Memorial Day, No On-Air 'Rewound'"
''NorthEast Radio Watch'', May 25, 2009. The test found that the signal could be used without causing significant interference to CIMF, and Astral consequently gave its consent to the use of the frequency as long as the company retained authorization to launch CJOT.Scott Fybush

''NorthEast Radio Watch'', June 15, 2009.

References

External links

Radio CJFO FM

Radio de la communauté francophone d’Ottawa
''(formerly www.rcfo.ca)''
CJFO-FM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cjfo-Fm Jfo Jfo Jfo Radio stations established in 2010 2010 establishments in Ontario