ISED’s proposed amendments significantly amend the antenna tower siting process for municipalities.
In May 2026, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED) launched a public consultation on proposed amendments to the existing federal antenna tower siting requirements, found under CPC-2-0-03 – Radiocommunication and Broadcasting Antenna Systems. The consultation also served to announce reductions already made to licensees’ reporting and other regulatory requirements, including changes related to mandatory roaming and tower and site sharing.
RMA shared ISED’s engagement with members through a bulletin on May 22, 2026, and has since reviewed and analyzed ISED’s proposed amendments.
While RMA generally supports most federal and provincial efforts to improve rural broadband and cellular coverage, these proposed changes substantially diminish the role that rural municipalities play in the tower siting process and pose a significant threat to municipal land use planning autonomy. ISED’s proposed changes include, but are not limited to:
- Replacing all existing municipal notification and consultation processes with one online portal,
- Shortening timelines for municipalities to review tower proposals, and
- Restricting the grounds on which municipalities may object to proposed towers to a pre-determined list of reasons for non-concurrence.
In short, the proposed approach fails to reflect rural municipalities’ autonomy, local knowledge, statutory planning authority, or rural realities, and could lead to unintended consequences. RMA has now submitted written feedback to ISED outlining these and other concerns with the changes and emphasizing the need to maintain meaningful municipal consultations in tower siting decisions.
Given the breadth of the proposed amendments, RMA encourages members to review ISED’s consultation webpage and consider submitting their own feedback as well. The deadline to submit comments is July 16, 2026. For more information, see ISED’s consultation webpage.
For more information, contact RMA’s Policy and Advocacy Team at advocacy@rmalberta.com or 825.319.2383.