Certification

If you are not a citizen of the country that issued your amateur radio licence and operator authorization, you will need to obtain a Canadian operator's certificate and callsign to operate in Canada.

Authorization procedure for reciprocal operation:

If you are a holder of a valid CEPT permit (Conférence Européenne des administrations des Postes et Télécommunications) or a valid IARP (International Amateur Radio Permit) issued in your country of citizenship (other than Canada), no prior approval from Industry Canada is required.

If you are a citizen of the United States and hold a valid radio licence for a radio station in the amateur service issued by the Government of the United States, no prior approval from Industry Canada is required.

In other cases you should apply well in advance for an authorization to operate while in Canada from the Industry Canada Amateur Radio Service Centre
P.O. Box 9654
Postal Station "T"
Ottawa, ON
K1G 6K9

E-Mail address:  Spectrum.amateur@ic.gc.ca
Telephone:  1-888-780-3333 (Toll free in Canada)
Fax Number:  1-613-991-5575

Provide a copy of your radio  licence and amateur radio operator authorization, your itinerary in Canada as best known and include the address(es) where you will be staying. Industry Canada will review your request, and if approved, will provide a letter authorizing your operation during your visit to Canada under the reciprocal arrangement or agreement. 

Please note that:

a) all radio stations for the amateur service operating in Canada must comply with the Canadian Radiocommunication Regulations and the Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service, RBR-4. (See Industry Canada documents RBR-4 and the Radio Regulations (RR)), and

b) an individual authorized to operate while temporarily in Canada ceases to be authorized should his or her foreign radio licence or amateur radio operator authorization cease to be valid.

A - In the mid 1990's, Industry Canada restructured a number of radio operator certificates by eliminating some and renaming  others while at the same time changing the qualifications required to obtain some of these certificates. 

The restructuring was based on the actual requirements to operate specific type of equipment. The Department had found that as technology had changed, the technical and operational requirements for different types of radio services also had changed. As a result, the Department took under consideration the qualifications of existing operators and added Schedule I to the Radiocommunication Regulations to provide and equivalencies between the certificates issued under the Repealed Radio Operator's Certificate Regulations (ROC) and certificates issued under the Radiocommunication Regulations.

 The certificate equivalency's table is only an indication that  holders of certificates issued under the ROC ( listed in column  I) are deemed to have at a minimum the same qualifications required for the equivalent certificate under the Radiocommunication regulations (listed in column II). However, the reverse situation is not applicable, the holder of a certificate listed in column II does not necessarily have the equivalent level of qualifications as his counterpart in column I.

 Schedule II of the Radiocommunication Regulations is the document that provides the type of station that various types of certificate holder may operate. Industry Canada quoted the section from Schedule II for the Restricted Operator's Certificate which defines what kind of station you may operate:

 " 12. Restricted Operator's Certificate. Any authorized station on board a ship that is voluntarily fitted with radio installations or on board a ship that is compulsorily fitted with radiotelephone installations and that is not fitted with Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) equipment. "

 Industry Canada thus does not consider a Restricted Operators Certificate, which was issued under Schedule II, to be equivalent to the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate which relates to a different kind of radio station and for which there are different certificate requirements.