For the past few weeks, the CRTC has been going about the business of renewing the licences of commercial radio stations throughout Canada. It's one of those things that happens every few years as the licence of each broadcast ownership group expires and outside of a few cited for non-compliance, it's pretty much a rubber stamp. 

But in each announcement published on the Commission's site, there's a paragraph that has me curious. In addition to reminding radio owners about their CanCon obligations, each one contains this proviso under the title "Expectations applicable to all stations" and "Indigenous Musical Selections."

"...the Commission expects the licensee to include Indigenous musical selections on the station’s playlist. The licensee should report annually on the amount of Indigenous content aired on the station throughout the broadcast year (i.e., from 1 September to 31 August), including the percentage of Indigenous musical selections out of the total number of musical selections that were aired, and the number of distinct artists whose music has been aired.

"The licensee should also be able to provide, upon request, information such as a list of all titles, artists, and International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) numbers."

OK, fair enough. They want to ensure Indigenous artists get exposure they might not otherwise achieve on Canadian radio. But what happens if that kind of music doesn't fit your format? In the case of CHKT 1430 Toronto, how could they possibly fit that into an all-Chinese language station? 

What about Classical 96.3? Are there enough Indigenous artists playing classical music to satisfy the CRTC's mandate? It seems unlikely.  

How is CIRF-AM 1350 in Brampton, which is almost all South Asian, supposed to fulfill this edict?

Is an Oldies station required to find music that fits the order? If so, what is there to play beyond "Indian Cowboy" by Buffy Ste. Marie and "Come & Get Your Love" by Redbone? I believe the Commission means well and there's a lot to make up for to Canada's Indigenous population, but how are stations that aren't playing relatively contemporary music supposed to fulfill this requirement?

I know it's not a strict order from the CRTC, but it's pretty strong language that stations should try to work this in. And even more, to report the results. It's a worthy goal but is it practical?
 
You can't really expect a station to break format and play something that stands out like a sore thumb just to try and do the right thing. How do stations handle this? Or is this something that's not really enforced by the Commission?  Are there any penalties if they can't because of their format? Or is this just a PR exercise from the solons in Hull?