09/18/2026
Please call and send this to your local MP, your media contacts, sign the petition, let your Council know this is happening and comment on the ISED consultation -001-16.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ottawa and telecommunications companies want to eliminate transparency for cell tower approvals.
A cell tower could be coming up near you with no public notification or local government consultation
OAKVILLE, ON — September 18, 2026
Advocacy groups continue to warn that proposed changes to Canada’s cell tower approval process published by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) would abolish or weaken municipality and public notification and consultation for all planned cell towers.
Telecommunications companies such as Bell, Rogers and TELUS have provided written comments that either agree with ISED’s proposed changes or request additional elimination of transparency. (Consultation on Amendments to the Tower Siting Process and Decision on Roaming, Tower Sharing and Annual Reporting Requirements for Terrestrial Licences
DGSO-001-26 May 2026), Reply comments submissions: https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/spectrum-management-telecommunications/en/learn-more/key-documents/consultations/comments-received-consultation-amendments-tower-siting-process-and-decision-roaming-tower-sharing
We have been down this path before. In July of 2014 ISED (then Industry Canada - IC) listened to public outcry when cell towers started being built near them with no warning. The cell tower rules for approval were changed in the next issue of Client Procedures Circular CPC-2-0-03 — Radiocommunication and Broadcasting Antenna Systems Issue 5: “The following proposals are excluded from land-use authority and public consultation requirements: New antenna systems: where the height is less than 15 metres above ground level. This exclusion does not apply to antenna systems proposed by telecommunications carriers, broadcasting undertakings or third party tower”.
ISED’s current proposed amendments would reverse course and again blindfold communities as to proposed cell towers in their communities. No one, especially parents of young children, needs surprises like this.
“This would give telecommunications companies almost unfettered ability to build cell towers wherever they want, as long as there is a ‘willing landlord,” says Frank Clegg, the CEO of Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST) and former President of Microsoft Canada. “Given that new technologies such as massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output), beamforming arrays and higher frequencies are being used in the cell tower antennas – for which there are no human health safety studies except regarding temperature - we need a stronger, not weaker, cell tower approval process.“
In response, C4ST launched a public petition that asks Minister Mélanie Joly to do two things. One ask is to conduct a new, thorough, comprehensive, country-wide antenna and tower siting policy review, as was required in 2003/2004 by then Minister Allan Rock. The other ask is to instruct ISED to revise its Consultation’s proposals based on the new review’s findings. https://c4st.org/eng/petition_ised.php
This CBC clip shows what was happening before IC/ISED denied the telecommunication industry use of the “15-metre exclusion” rule in 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pche7huu8w
Media Contact:
Frank Clegg, CEO
Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST)
[email protected]
and
Marg Friesen, Science Advisor
Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST)
[email protected]
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