Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

What is the Hall of Fame all About?

Radio Amateurs of Canada recognizes deserving Amateurs by appointments to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. The Constitution of the Hall specifies that the appointment as Member of the Hall is for “outstanding achievement and excellence of the highest degree, for serious and sustained service to Amateur Radio in Canada, or to Amateur Radio at large”.

The Trustees of the Hall have interpreted the Constitution to mean that the person has performed significant service over many years to enhance the well-being of Amateur Radio. For example, the Amateur may have served on: Canada’s national Amateur Radio organizations (the Canadian Radio Relay League, the Canadian Amateur Radio Federation or Radio Amateurs of Canada); technical, regulatory or international committees; and/or Provincial or local associations such as repeater or emergency councils.

The Amateur may have become proficient in one or more areas of expertise and then shared this knowledge with other Amateurs by publishing articles, giving classes or providing seminars. They may have given back to Amateur Radio by becoming Accredited Examiners or teaching classes (Basic, Advanced and Morse Code) for several years.

No single achievement would necessarily qualify an Amateur for the Hall of Fame, but a lifetime of service would be favourable. Look at the list of Hall Members provided below and you will find Amateurs who have made distinguished contributions in many areas.

Please get together with your fellow Amateurs or club members and submit a nomination or two. Let us avoid the situation where no nominations are received as in past years. Let’s not wait until a worthy Amateur becomes a Silent Key before being honoured.

How do you nominate someone?

Any resident of Canada who holds a current Amateur Radio Operator Certificate issued by the Government of Canada, or any Canadian Amateur Radio organization, other than Radio Amateurs of Canada, may submit a nomination for Member of the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Membership in RAC is not mandatory.

Any resident of Canada who holds a current Amateur Radio Operator Certificate issued by the Government of Canada, except a Radio Amateurs of Canada employee, officer, Director, Assistant Director, volunteer manager, or leadership official in the Field Organization, may be appointed as a Member of the Hall. Membership in RAC is not mandatory.

Nomination or appointment for Member or Honorary Member of the Hall may be after the death of the nominee. A person who is not a resident of Canada may be appointed only as an Honorary Member of the Hall. The other requirements for appointment as Honorary Member of the Hall are the same as for Member.

Only the RAC Board of Directors, by majority vote, is allowed to nominate candidates for Honorary Member (those persons not residents of Canada). Because of the requirement for Canadian residency for appointment as Member of the Hall, it is incumbent upon the nominator to confirm the Canadian residency of a nominee prior to submitting a nomination.

The nomination should be kept confidential and known only to the nominator(s). The person being nominated should not be made aware of the nomination nor be asked for his or her approval to be nominated.

CARHOF Nomination form

Nominations must be submitted to the Board of Trustees using the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame Nomination Form provided at the following link:

CARHOF Nomination Form (PDF 33 kb)

All nominations must include:

• a biographical sketch or curriculum vitae
• three references for the Member of the Hall

Nomination documents may be submitted by email or by regular mail but the preferred method is by email in PDF format as these are much easier to process. Please send the PDF documents directly to the CARHOF Chair at

While e-documents are strongly preferred they can also be sent by paper to:

Chair CARHOF
Frank Davis, VO1HP
2 Crabapple Place
St John’s NL A1A 5L7

All nominations for Member of the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame must be received by the close of the last business day of September. 

Late nominations will be considered in the next year. Once received, all handling shall be conducted in a secure and confidential manner. On or before the last business day of November, the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Hall of Fame shall advise the Custodian (RAC) of the decisions of the Board of Trustees on appointments for the calendar year.

The Board may appoint a person who has been nominated in a previous year. For this reason, no advice shall be issued to the nominator that the nomination has not resulted in an appointment, nor any reason given why an appointment has not been made as a result of that nomination.

Who administers the Hall of Fame?

The Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame is administered by an independent Board of Trustees, one per province, who have the sole discretion and authority to appoint Members and Honorary Members of the Hall by majority vote. Their term of office is a maximum of three years, which may be extended. A Trustee may not be appointed to the Hall. A Member of the Hall may be appointed as a Trustee.

In each calendar year, a maximum of one Member may be appointed if living, or a maximum of two if one is deceased. Nomination or appointment for a Member or Honorary Member of the Hall may be made after the death of the nominee.

Like most things in life, there are costs associated with these awards, and we are grateful to two clubs for underwriting the costs for the Hall of Fame. The Ottawa Amateur Radio Club has sponsored the awards since 1998. The North Shore Amateur Radio Club (BC) began sponsorship in 2014. Thanks to both clubs for their support.