Environment Canada has announced that they will be disconnecting the Weatheradio service on March 16th, 2026 much to the chagrin of backcountry campers who utilized the service.
Environment Canada launched Weatheradio Canada in 1976, which provided a network of radio transmitters stretching from the Gulf of Mexico into Canada’s Arctic and from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. They broadcasted weather and environmental information 24 hours a day in both official languages on 7 dedicated frequencies within the VHF public service band. A neat feature of the service is that it could transmit a tone and Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) codes ahead of a warning message that will activate the Weatheradio receiver and alert you to an incoming important message.
The receivers were affordable and handy for backcountry campers if you didn’t want to subscribe to a service (such an SPOT or inReach) and you would receive service as long as you were within 60km of a transmitter site (depending on terrain).
Over 90 percent of Canadians can access a Weatheradio signal, and recent technological advances made it possible for listeners to program Weatheradio receivers to deliver only certain types of warnings for their specific locations.
Environment Canada is also closing their automated weather telephone service Hello Weather.
While you can still get radio marine forecasts via the Canadian Coast Guard, you will have to use satellite service for weather reports while in the backcountry by using an inReach, SPOT or the upcoming satellite offerings from Bell, Rogers and Telus for your phone.
