Digital television in Canada

Digital terrestrial television in Canada (often shortened to DTT) is transmitted using the ATSC standard. Because Canada and the U.S. use the same standard and frequencies for channels, people near the Canada–United States border can watch digital television programming from television stations in either country where available. The ATSC standards are also used in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Suriname, and South Korea.

Jurisdiction over terrestrial broadcasting in Canada is primarily regulated by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). ISED has jurisdiction over the allotment of the terrestrial spectrum and the CRTC has jurisdiction over the allotment of broadcast licences.

The CRTC imposed in 28 mandatory markets a digital transition deadline for full power transmitters of 31 August 2011, with the exception of some CBC transmitters. Two weeks before the deadline, the CBC transmitters were given a temporary one-year extension to remain in analogue. No digital transition deadline has been set for low-power analogue transmitters and analogue transmitters outside the 28 mandatory markets.

In January 2007, ISED stopped issuing licences within Canada for new television transmitters broadcasting in analogue. All remaining analogue terrestrial television signals across Canada were scheduled to be shut down no later than 2022 under an ISED schedule published in 2017; however, a number of analogue stations in smaller markets continue to operate as of December 2022.