CJWE-FM (88.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. Owned by the

Aboriginal Multi-Media Society The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) is an Aboriginal publisher in Canada. AMMSA was established in 1983 under the Alberta Societies Act and launched its first publication in March 1983 – simply titled ''AMMSA''. The name of this publica ...

, it broadcasts programming targeting southern Alberta's First Nations communities, including mainstream

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, and specialty shows featuring

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

music or presented in

Indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...

. It is similar in format to its sister radio network CFWE, which focuses primarily on

northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the ce ...

's First Nations communities. The station operates full-powered rebroadcasters in southern Alberta, CJWE-FM-1 serving

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

(103.5 FM), and CJWE-FM-2 serving

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

(106.3 FM), giving it full coverage across the

Treaty 7 Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Crown and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nation band governments in what is today the southern portion of Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was brought to Blackfoot chief Cro ...

territory.

History

Following the collapse of the

Aboriginal Voices Radio Network Aboriginal Voices Radio Network (rebranded as Voices Radio in 2014) was a Canadian radio network, which primarily broadcast music programming and other content of interest to aboriginal people. As of June 2015, the network operated stations in To ...

(which broadcast on 88.1 MHz in Calgary as CKAV-FM-3), the CRTC pursued new applicants for indigenous radio stations to fill its frequencies. The

(owner of the indigenous network CFWE) was granted stations in Calgary and Edmonton. The Calgary station, named CJWE-FM, began testing its signal in April 2018, and officially launched in June. The station features similar programming to its Edmonton-based counterpart CFWE, including a mix of mainstream

, and specialty programs targeting Southern Alberta's indigenous communities in the

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

, Nakoda, and T'suutina languages. In December 2018, the CRTC granted approval for the AMMSA to convert the CFWE rebroadcaster CFWE-FM-2 (

Piikani 147 Piikani 147, formerly Peigan 147, is an Indian reserve of the Piikani Nation in Alberta. It is located west of the City of Lethbridge. It has a land area of , making it the fourth-largest Indian reserve in Canada, and lies at an elevation of . T ...

) to a rebroadcaster of CJWE, as it would broadcast content of greater relevance to the region. In May 2022, the CRTC granted approval for the AMMSA to add a new, 100,000-watt rebroadcaster in

on 103.5 FM, which would operate as CJWE-FM-1. The following year, the CRTC also approved a 100,000-watt rebroadcaster serving

on 106.3 FM; in combination with its Calgary and Lethbridge transmitters, this would give CJWE full coverage across the

territory. CJWE-FM-1 and CJWE-FM-2 signed on in January and March 2024 respectively.

References

External links

*
CJWE-FM history
-

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{Calgary Radio JWE JWE Radio stations established in 2018 2018 establishments in Alberta