Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) recently launched four public consultations:

• SRSP-102 Draft Issue 2 of the Standard Radio System Scheme – Band-Specific Technical Requirements for Earth Stations in the Fixed Satellite Service, public comment begins on March 10, 2025, and will end on May 30, 2025;
• SRSP-103 Standard Radio System Scheme – Technical Requirements for Space Stations Providing Supplemental Mobile Coverage via Satellites, Issue 1, Draft, public comment process beginning March 5, 2025 and ending May 5, 2025;
• Public consultation on the flexible use of the repurposing of the lower 26 GHz band (24.25-26.5 GHz), numbered SPB-002-25. The public consultation complements the public consultation on the 26 GHz, 28 GHz and 38 GHz bands already conducted in 2022. public comment begins on 6 March 2025 and will end on 5 May 2025;
• Public consultation on the 27.5-28.35 GHz band, which covers a number of standards and regulations, including: RSS-193 Issue 1 – Flexible use of broadband devices operating in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band, RSS-102. IPD. MEAS Issue 2 – Measurement Procedure for Assessing Incident Power Density (IPD) Compliance According to RSS-102, RSS-102. IPD. SIM Issue 2 – Simulation Procedure for Assessing Incident Power Density (IPD) Compliance According to RSS-102 and SRSP-522 Issue 1 – Technical Requirements for Non-Competitive Locally Licensed Systems (including Fixed and/or Mobile Systems) Operating in the 27.5-28.35 GHz Band and Flexible Use of Broadband Systems. public comment began on March 7, 2025 and will end on May 30, 2025.

Click on the corresponding link in the summary of the public consultation above to view the original public consultation.

On 20 February 2025, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) launched a public consultation on the radio standards specification RSS-247 Issue 4 "Digital Transmission Systems, Frequency Hopping Systems and Licence-Exempt Local Area Network Devices in 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, 5150-5350 MHz, and 5470-5895 MHz bands". The standard outlines the technical requirements for the following systems: Digital Transmission System (DTS), Frequency Hopping System (FHS), Hybrid System, and License-Free Local Area Network (LE-LAN).

Click this link to view the original public consultation, and the comment period is until 5 May 2025.

On January 29, 2025, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) published guideline 2025-DRS0001 related to human exposure to nerve stimulation (NS). The notice is intended to provide guidance for many inquiries regarding coil shapes that are exempt from NS testing. Wireless devices with coil shapes shown in the following three categories are exempt from the NS test after evaluation by standard calculations:

• planar shapes (Square, Rectangle, Hexagon, Elliptical, etc.);
• circular stacking (Stacked Rounded Rectangular, Stacked Rounded Cylinders, Cylindrical Coil, etc.);
• Surface mount technology (SMT) coil inductors.

Please note that 3-Axis SMT Coil and Double D Coil are not exempt from testing. In addition to the three types of coil shapes described above, ISED is not currently considering additional NS test exemption requests.

Click this link to view the original guide.

On 18 January 2025, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) launched a public consultation on:

• RSS-102-SAR. MEAS Issue 2, "Measurement Procedure for Assessing Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Compliance in Accordance with RSS-102";
• RSS-102. SAR. SIM Issue 1, "Simulation Procedure for Assessing Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Compliance in Accordance with RSS-102".

These standards apply to radiocommunication equipment with integrated antennas, systems with detachable antennas (supplied with transmitters) that require licensing, or license-exempt transmitters with detachable antennas (as defined by RSS-Gen).

Click on this link to view the original public consultation, the comment period is until March 31, 2025.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) clarified at the TCBC workshop that ISED considers 802.11ax and 802.11be to be two different technologies and therefore need to be evaluated separately. TCBC members provided data to ISED to support the similarity of 802.11ax and 802.11be. After reviewing the data, the ISED stated that the full RU test of 802.11be was accepted as a proxy for 802.11ax with the same power meter, but any special RU configurations would need to be evaluated separately. TCBC sent a letter to TCBC members on November 13, 2024 to make the above statement.

On 11 October 2024, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) of Canada published RSS-248 Issue 3 Release 3 – Radio Local Area Network (RLAN) Equipment Operating in the 5925-7125 MHz Band to replace Release 2 on 20 December 2022.

The main changes in this update are as follows:

• A new device category has been added: Very Low Power Devices
• Definitions, power limits, and operational requirements have been added for new equipment categories
• Appropriate editorial changes and clarifications have been made

Click on this link to access the original ISED regulations.

On 20 September 2024, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) of Canada opened a public consultation proposing the adoption of the following criteria:

• ANSI C63.2-2023 - United States National Standard specifying specifications for electromagnetic interference and field strength measurement instruments in the frequency range from 9 kHz to 40 GHz. As the standard incorporates the existing requirements in the CISPR 16-1-1 version adopted in ISED standards and ANSI C63.4-2014, a six-month transition period is proposed.
• ANSI C63.10a-2024 - United States National Standard, Test Procedures for Compliance with Unlicensed Wireless Devices, Amendment No. 1. This amendment extends the frequency range to 750 GHz and updates procedures for frequency stability, maximization of emissions from millimeter wave (mmWave) devices, ultra-wideband (UWB) devices, and unlicensed national information infrastructure equipment. It is proposed to establish a one-year transition period during which the previous version or a modified version can be used to meet ISED requirements.

Click this link to access the original ISED public consultation. The comment period is until 29 November 2024.

On 3 September 2024, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) of Canada officially released RSS-216 Issue 3, replacing RSS-216 Issue 2.

The main changes to the specification are as follows:

1. The maximum separation distance for wireless power transfer (WPT) systems for electric vehicles has been increased from 10 cm to 50 cm, and from 10 cm to 20 cm for all other WPT equipment: Section 1(b)/(c);
2. Increase the maximum operating frequency from 400 MHz to 40 GHz and increase the limit on radiated emissions above 1 GHz: Section 1 (d) and 5.3.3.3;
3. Removed the condition (from Section 1) that requires additional instructions from ISED if the device is a medical device, and added specific requirements for WPT devices that can be implanted or worn on the human body: Section 5.2.2;
4. Adoption of the ANSI C63.30-2021 standard with differences: Clauses 4.3, 5.2.1 and Appendix A;
5. Clarification that RSS-216 must be used in conjunction with RSS-Gen and/or ICES-Gen: Paragraph 4.4;
6. Clarifies the requirements applicable in the case of multiple supply voltages or a wide range of supply voltages: Section 5.1;
7. Clarification of which devices are considered industrial, scientific and medical devices (ISM): Clause 5.3.1;
8. Limit values are included directly in RSS-216 instead of quoting ICES-001: Clauses 5.3.2 and 5.3.3, and
9. alternative limits are added based on RSS-210 under certain conditions: Clause 5.4;
10. RF exposure requirements refer to RSS-102: No. 5.6;

Click on this link to view the original RSS-216 Issue 3 standard.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) of Canada held a public consultation on February 27, 2024 on the radio standard specification RSS-133 Issue 7 "Personal communication service devices operating in the bands 1850-1915 MHz and 1930-1995 MHz". On July 24, 2024, ISED officially released RSS-133 Issue 7. Updates to this release include increased maximum radiated power requirements for fixed stations, base stations, and user equipment, as well as total radiated power requirements for active antenna system (AAS) equipment and unwanted emissions, as well as editorial modifications, clarifications, and other editorial updates to the specification. Like other ISED standards, the standard provides for a 6-month transition period.

Click this link to view the original specification.

On 25 June 2024, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) issued a public consultation to gather input on the RSS-248 Issue 3 "Wireless Local Area Network (RLAN) Equipment Operating in the 5925-7125 MHz Band". The standard specifies the technical and operational requirements for a new category of equipment called "ultra-low-power devices" and will replace RSS-248 Issue 2.

Click this link to view the original public consultation, and the comment period ends on 6 September 2024.