The Dominion Network was the second English-language radio network of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

from January 1, 1944 to 1962. It consisted of the CBC-owned CJBC radio station in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and a series of 34 privately owned affiliates from coast-to-coast. The Dominion Network was set up as a complementary network to the CBC's main English service which became known as the Trans-Canada Network. While the Trans-Canada Network focus was on public affairs, educational and cultural programs, the Dominion Network's broadcast schedule consisted of lighter programming fare than that of the Trans-Canada Network and carried more American programming. As well, the Dominion Network operated mostly in the evenings, freeing affiliates to air local programming during the day.

History

The Dominion Network was launched on January 1, 1944 after a request by private affiliates asking to set up their own radio network in order to carry American programming was turned down. CBC became concerned that the private stations might succeed in pressuring the government to permit such a private radio network. As a result, the CBC set up its own second network to appease demands by privately owned CBC affiliates for popular programming that would provide more commercial revenue. The network was managed by Spence Caldwell, who later became a founder of CTV. Shows carried by the network included '' Duffy's Tavern'', '' Amos & Andy'' and '' Fibber McGee and Molly''. There is an

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

that a CBC announcer once accidentally gave a station identification as "the Dominion Network of the Canadian ''Broadcorping

Castration Castration is any action, surgery, surgical, chemical substance, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical cas ...

''", which was popularized when U.S. TV producer

Kermit Schaefer Kermit Schafer (March 24, 1914 – March 8, 1979) was an American writer and producer for radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his collections of "bloopers"—the word Schafer popularized for mistakes and gaffes o ...

included a recreation of this incident on one of his best-selling '' Pardon My Blooper'' record albums in the 1950s. Canadian political pundit

Mark Steyn Mark Steyn () is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''America Alone'', ''After America (Steyn book), A ...

often refers to the CBC as such in his columns. The network was dissolved in 1962 and most of the private stations became independent. CJBC gradually became a French-language station and is now the Southern Ontario

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

of Radio-Canada's Première Chaîne.

Stations

Alberta

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

- CFCN now defunct (2023) *

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

- CFRN (affiliated with CBC Radio for two years after the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) now defunct (2023) *

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 ...

CHAT Chat or chats may refer to: Communication * Conversation, particularly casual * Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time * Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat * SMS chat, a form of text messagi ...

(affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged)

British Columbia

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

- CHWK (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Penticton Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley of the British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan Lake, Okanagan and Skaha Lake, Skaha lakes. In the 2021 Canadian Census, its population was 36,885, while its Census geographic un ...

- CKOK (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

- CJOR * Vernon - CJIB * Victoria - CJVI (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged)

Manitoba

* Brandon - CKX (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

- CKRC

New Brunswick

* Saint John - CFBC

Nova Scotia

* Halifax - CHNS *

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

- CJCB (from 1948, previously a TCN affiliate)

Ontario

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

- CKPC now defunct (2023) *

Fort Frances Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census was 7,466 Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances C ...

- CKFI (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

- CHML * Kingston - CKLC/ CKLC-FM (shared affiliation 1953-1962) * Kitchener - CKCR (1949–1960) (CKCR-AM-FM affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged.) *

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

- CFPL (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

- CFOR (from 1945) (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

- CKCO (became CKOY in 1949) now defunct (2023) *

Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...

CFOS CFOS is an AM radio station broadcasting from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. The format is oldies, classic adult contemporary music, and news (plus an adult standards/nostalgic music show, "Remember When", several nights a week from 8-11 p.m.), a ...

(affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

- CHEX *

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

- CKTB * Stratford - CJCS * Sudbury - CHNO *

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

- CFPA (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) *

- CJBC (flagship, the only CBC owned and operated station, converted to French-language

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

station in 1964) * Windsor - CKLW (affiliated with both Trans-Canada and Dominion until 1950 when CBC owned CBE launched) * Wingham - CKNX

Prince Edward Island

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

- CFCY (affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged)

Quebec

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

- CFCF now defunct (2010) *

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

- CJQC (affiliated in 1949; previously CKCV was affiliated with both the Trans-Canada Network and the Dominion Network. CJQC affiliated with CBC Radio when the Trans-Canada and Dominion Networks merged) now defunct (1976)

Saskatchewan

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

CHAB François Chabloz, known profesionally as Chab, is a Swiss trance music record producer and remixer . Known for his progressive trance style, Chabloz has an extensive history as a remixer and he has also released original material under the mon ...

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

- CKBI * Regina - CKRM *

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

- CFQC

References

History of Canadian Broadcasting: CBC Radio Networks
{{CBC Radio CBC Radio Defunct Canadian radio networks 1944 establishments in Canada 1962 disestablishments in Canada *