Weatheradio going off the air as Environment Canada moves emphasis to online and apps

A cross-Canada radio service that for decades has delivered the latest local forecasts as well as critical alerts about severe weather 24 hours a day is signing off, with listeners being advised to switch to online or cellphone-based services. Fallen tree branches are shown on a street in Montreal, Thursday, March 12, 2026, following an ice storm. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

ROB DRINKWATER — A cross-Canada radio service that for decades has delivered the latest local forecasts as well as critical alerts about severe weather 24 hours a day is signing off, with listeners being advised to switch to online or cellphone-based services.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says on its website that effective Monday, Weatheradio will be permanently disconnected. The announcement says anyone who wants local weather forecasts and alerts should consult the agency’s interactive weather map or download its WeatherCAN app.

In an email, the agency said the radio service, which began operating in the 1970s and broadcasts within the VHF public service band available on certain radios, has become increasingly challenging to maintain because of climbing costs.

The dial-in Good Morning service, where users can phone for a recorded local forecast, will end the same day. Marine forecasts will remain available via the Canadian Coast Guard radio system.

“To be honest, I think it’s not going to affect myself or our operation that much because we rely on the internet service from Starlink,” said Rob Argue, the Ottawa-based owner of Eastern Canadian Outfitters, which has two hunting and fishing lodges in Quebec.

But the decision is ringing alarm bells for Radio Amateurs of Canada, whose volunteers help with communications support during disasters. It said in a statement that Weatheradio has been particularly important in rural, remote and northern communities where cellular and internet coverage can be limited or unreliable.

“Everybody remembers in Canada that Rogers went down for a day and everybody panicked,” the organization’s president, Allan Boyd, said in an interview, referring to a network outage in 2022.

“Cellular and satellite communications are very reliable today, but the infrastructure could fail. And if that goes down, then there’s not much to rely on, for sure.”

Retired school teacher and farmer Jack Furrie, who was 77, died after a twister tore through the Rural Municipality of Alonsa in Manitoba in 2018. His grandson told The Canadian Press at the time that Furrie hadn’t been able to get any cell service after upgrades were made to the local network, and he missed alerts that were sent out before the storm moved through.

Weatheradio allows the transmission of a tone and coding for specific areas that activate an alarm on the receiving radio, alerting of an incoming important message.

Transmitters - 230 of them - stretch into Canada’s Arctic and from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, and Environment Canada’s website says more than 90 per cent of Canadians have been able to access a Weatheradio signal.

“Since Weatheradio was introduced, there have been many technological advancements that have permitted us to increase the availability of our weather information services and products,” the agency said in its email when asked to explain the decision to terminate the service.

“Additionally, cellular service in Canada continues to expand, and satellite internet is increasingly enabling remote communities across the country to access information.”

But the alternatives can be expensive for users, said Nirupama Agrawal, a professor with York University’s disaster and emergency planning program. Still, she suggested maintaining Weatheradio transmitters may not be worth the expense.

“I started thinking back about, you know, when we had a rail service to northern communities which was cut, and we never built that system again because people prefer to drive and there was not enough demand,” Agrawal said.

“The fact of the matter is these things cost. They take up resources.”

Agrawal said having to maintain fewer systems also ensures the information on them is correct.

Sheena Campbell, a spokeswoman for Alberta’s Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services, said in an email that urgent public safety alerts will still be sent through Alberta Emergency Alerts, which can interrupt AM-FM radio, television and mobile devices.

But she said Weatheradio’s impending shutdown, which was a federal government decision, “reinforces the importance of personal preparedness and advance planning.” She said people in areas with no cellular coverage or AM-FM reception should check forecasts before travelling, let others know travel plans and bring an emergency kit with essential supplies.

Argue, meanwhile, said guides with his outfitting business check Environment Canada or Weather Network forecasts every day. They do that via Starlink when in remote locations, but don’t get alerts when they’re away from base camps.

“Like a lot of people, probably, who are used to being out in remote locations, you just keep an eye on the sky and pay attention to drops in temperature and things like that,” Argue said.

“I think a lot of people living in those environments know what to look for, sometimes.”