All across Canada broadcasters have been moving their AM signals over to the FM band. The Canadian Radio Television C ommission will authorize only so
many stations in each market – to assure that each station has the economic potential for success, and each station has to promise to meet a specific programming need. In many Canadian markets there are several FM channels available.
Most of Canada’s population is clustered on the border with the US. The FM channels are generally not limited to the north by other stations, so it has been possible to move many AM stations over to FM channels. The CRTC requires that the AM signal go off the air when the FM takes over.This may be good news for AM stations, because the night interference that these now silent Canadian AM stations cause to US stations is only on paper. Many Canadian AM stations have high night power and complex directional antennas. They did not always work as planned due to breakdowns, icing and other problems, so they sometimes caused a lot of interference to US stations at night.
The Canadian government generally has not deleted the frequency allocations for these stations for international purposes, but keeps them on the books to reserve the channel. In fact, several large facilities were taken over by another station in the same market that now has a better signal. Some others were moved to another town.
There are probably a number of US AM stations that could improve their signals because the Canadian stations that were protected in the original design are no longer there. While the Canadian government protects the allocations, it is not unheard of for the FCC to issue an STA for increased night (or daytime) power when the foreign station clearly has not been operating for a number of years.