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Radio
Here’s How Much Canadians Across the Country Are Listening to AM/FM Radio
According to the Fall 2025 audience data report, AM/FM radio listening is the highest in Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary. Montreal reaches 87% of Meter Market listeners (a market sample tracked with Personal People Meters), Edmonton and Calgary sit at 82% and 81%, respectively.
During the 12-week tracking period, cross-country Canadian listeners indulged in approximately eight hours of AM/FM radio on the airwaves, which is a 4% increase from 2024. Of course, this depends on where you live.
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In Montreal, francophone listeners tuned in for around nine hours, a 7% increase from the year prior, while Toronto boosted its listening habits by 7%. On the west coast, Vancouver went up to 3% while Edmonton increased by 2%. While music streaming services has become a major source of consuming audio, it’s clear that radio still plays a role in the lives of listeners across Canada.
“Canadians continued to rely on AM/FM radio as a trusted companion throughout their day,” the report reads.
Where listeners tend to tune in, Numeris finds, is overwhelming at home. Across all provinces, in-home listening is up by an average of 4%. In Anglophone Montreal, 64% of listeners turn on the radio at home, followed by Francophone listeners at 60%. One province over, in Toronto, 53% of consumers listen to the radio.
The report cites an uptick in in-home radio use — with stats slightly increasing throughout all times of the day, up 4% from 2024. The breakfast period experienced the biggest jump, rising from 54% to 59%.
“Cooler weather and shorter days could have encouraged people to stay inside, cozying up with the radio. Plus, as hybrid work styles remained popular, more folks started their mornings or got through their work-from-home days with the radio playing in the background,” notes the researchers.
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While listening to a physical radio maintains the main method of consumption, streaming radio stations online has become a “popular choice,” steadily maintaining an audience of various age groups.
Over the past three years, listeners between the ages of 18-24 have made up a total of 11% of streamers, while listeners ages 25-54 have gone up to 13%, one percent higher than in 2024. The report finds that most people stream radio in the morning, peaking at 7:30 am weekdays and 9 am weekends.
“Canadians continue to embrace radio as a source of entertainment and connection, whether tuning in over the air or via live streaming,” reads the report. This flexibility reflects how radio is still a part of the lives of Canadians, offering accessible audio content from coast to coast.
In recent months, homegrown radio stations have received a change in policy. In October, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) updated its policies to introduce flexibility and simplify radio licensing, reducing the depth of administrative tasks to allow broadcasters to push out more news to consumers.
“The CRTC is reducing the administrative burden on radio stations so that they have more time to deliver news and music to their communities,” shared CRTC commission chair Vicky Eatrides.
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View the full Numeris report here.
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