The Canadian 700 MHz Band Plan

Last updated November 25, 2007

© 2007, MARITIMES SCANNING SITE, all rights reserved

Note that this narrative is based upon Industry Canada documentation: click here  

700 MHz is the new kid on the block.  Following the lead from the US situation, Industry Canada is carving out a new communications band out of UHF television channels 63 and 68.   Television will remain in the intervening section of the band.    It is unclear as to when this new band will actually be rolled out for actual use.  But I suggest you start thinking about it when you next purchase a scanner!

This new band will be similar in some ways to the existing 800 MHz band in that both trunking and conventional usages will be possible, and that similar equipment will be utilized.   For scanning enthusiasts there will be similar emission types, though data may be more prevalent as this band is introduced.   It may be that some scanners now on sale will cover this band, but I am not covering that aspect in this page.

One major change is that the bandwidths in this new band will be in some cases much narrower than in the 800 MHz band, but on the other hand there is the provision to put one or more adjacent channel together to make a wider bandwidth channel.   

The low segment of this band extends from 764 to 770 MHz, the complete TV Channel 63.   The high segment is 794 to 800 MHz, the complete TV Channel 68.    Please note that these are the over the air UHF channels, which bear no relationship to cable channels of the same numbers.    Currently in Canada and the USA there are some television stations on these channels, and this will affect implementation.   The TV industry is in the middle of its own revolution so that presently there is in effect a double set of television stations, one for analog signals, and one for digital signals.   Each station has two transmitters at present, which has meant a temporarily large number of UHF transmissions.   When DT takes over from analog, it is presumed that the DT signals now going out over mostly UHF channels will replace the older analog signals and switch to the mostly VHF (2 to 13) channels.  In any event it is thought that in a few years there will be less and less need for TV channels 63 and up.   You may be interested to know that the 800 MHz band was itself created when TV channels 69 to 83 were forcibly abandoned a few years ago.

Channels will be mostly of the two frequency type, generally for use with repeaters.  In each case the repeater output will be the low frequency in the pair, and the mobile or other inputting station will be transmitting on the high frequency, 30 MHz higher.   This differs from the 800 MHz band where the inputs are the low side, and 45 MHz down.

Narrowband channels will be in the range 764 to 767 MHz (output side).  Wideband channels will be in the range 767 to 770 MHz (output side)

There will be narrowband A channels, B channels and C channels, corresponding respectively to bandwidths of 6.25, 12.5 and 25 kHz.   There are 480 of the 6.25 kHz narrowband channels.   The 12.5 and 25 kHz channels are simply combinations of adjacent 6.25 kHz channels, and are therefore not in addition to the 480 6.25 kHz channels.  It is unclear at this point as to which bandwidth will in fact be the prevalent one, and which will be receivable on scanners.    When two or four 6.25 kHz channels are joined to make a 12.5 or 25 kHz channel there is a different channel number.  See this sample chart:

And so on.........

For those of you familiar with the frequencies now in use on 800 MHz, you can see right away that it those on the far right that appear most familiar, as these are the same size (bandwidth) as the 800 MHz frequencies.   It is clear from the chart that the basic building block 6.25 kHz channels are only 1/4 the size or width of the familiar 800 MHz frequencies, which makes one wonder about scanners and their ability to detect signals and/or reject adjacent or near adjacent channels.   If only the C channels were to be used there would be no problem for scanner listeners as long as the scanner can operate on this band.

There will also be wideband D, E and F channels of 50, 100 and 150 kHz width.   There are 60 of the 50 kHz channels, and as above, the wider variations are simply agglomerations of adjacent 50 kHz channels.  It is assumed that these wideband channels will not be of major interest to scanner listeners as they will be for other than standard voice transmissions.

As with 800 MHz there are zones along the US-Canadian border where channels are assigned to one of the countries from the outset so that there are no interference issues requiring joint action.   Also there are some areas along the border requiring particular coordination and regulation.   As this website pertains to the Maritimes of Canada, there is no need to attempt to explain these anomalies, as none exist in this region.

Interoperability Channels:  Some narrowband channels have been set aside for interoperability between agencies and all users of narrowband channels will be required to be able to use these interoperability channels.  The following are the interoperability narrowband channels:   23, 24, 39, 40, 63, 64, 79, 80, 103, 104, 119, 120, 143, 144, 159, 160, 183, 184, 199, 200, 223, 224, 239, 240, 263, 264, 279 (low speed data), 280 (low speed data), 303, 304, 319, 320.   These channels as you can see are in consecutive pairs.  This is to allow the 12.5 kHz bandwidth signals, not just 6.25 kHz.     Similarly some wideband channels are also set aside, and they are in groups of three:   Wideband channels 28, 29, 30, 37, 38, 39, 46, 47, 48.

Nationwide and Wide Area Channels:   Narrowband Channels 441 to 480 are set aside for nationwide users.   Channels in Trunking groups 221, 222, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230. 

At some point I may attempt to draw a chart of the whole band, including wide band channels.