Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting
The Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting, known as the Aird Commission, studied Canada’s radio industry from 1928 to 1929. It was led by John Aird and included commissioners Bowman, Frigon, and Manson. At the time, broadcasting was small and lightly regulated, but problems were rising: religious and political attacks on air, and American stations dominating the dial despite some Canadian frequency reservations.
After visiting Canada and abroad, the commission noted that some countries relied on public (non-commercial) broadcasting and that advertising funded much of the radio market elsewhere. It concluded that Canada needed a publicly funded system and a single regulator to oversee all broadcasting.
In 1932, influenced by the Aird findings, the government passed the Radio Broadcasting Act, creating the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC). The CRBC would own and operate all radio stations in Canada, while provinces could broadcast content within their borders. It was meant to be a free public broadcaster under federal control for education and entertainment and also served as the regulator for private stations. The system was funded by licensing fees and advertising, with about a third of Canadians owning radios.
Political changes followed: the Liberal government fell in 1930, and Prime Minister R. B. Bennett’s government pushed the act through in 1932. The CRBC’s broadcasting arm became the CBC in 1936, while its regulatory functions evolved into the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) and later the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The CRBC itself faced controversy and was disbanded after investigations in the mid-1930s.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:42 (CET).