Date: October 25 2024
To: NCRA/ANREC Members
Re: Annual Returns 20243 Memo
Hello Members
TLDR: The forms and the process have ONE change over last year (1110 line 32) and please remember to check for your forms in GC Key and submit them to us
The attached package is designed to assist you in the annual returns application process for this year. Remember the deadline is November 30 2024. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT. The office reminds you every year that the system WILL crash and you WILL not be able to submit on time if you wait. There will not be staff available to help after hours (any weekday after 5pm EST), both on the CRTC side and the NCRA/ANREC side. Please PLEASE put an internal deadline of November 24 on your calendar to submit. I cannot stress this enough, there is always a dozen stations whose forms are not populated properly and it will take a week or more to get access to your 2024 forms.
Attached here are a few PDFs that provide additional support documentation. We have taken the CRTC forms and added notes to assist you in completing the tasks. They should make the process much easier. You should have anywhere between 6 and 12 forms to fill out, not all stations will get all forms BUT you should get 908, 909, 1110, 1121, 1340, 1411, 1402b, REPB (REPBx is not applicable), REPU
When you are done, please complete our form and upload your documents (no need to email us – this saves us a lot of time coordinating the returns)
As for the return itself:
1) There are multiple forms. Each form goes to a different person at the CRTC. Therefore, they are sometimes a little bit different. This may seem redundant or repetitive. However, they all need to be completed and submitted properly.
2) If you have issues, call the support line. This includes issues such as missing forms or inability to log-in. Make sure you call the line with time to spare before the deadline. Do not expect to be able to call the line after normal business hours. DCS Filing re: System information is 1-866-845-6036. This is for any issues with the system itself. If you cannot get your answer there, try the Small Undertakings Line at 1-866-781-1911.
3) You can always try us here in the office. 1-866-859-8086.
4) E-mail issues? The staff are sharing a box so email “returns@ncra.ca”
5) Save a copy of your return. Print/PDF each form as you submit it. Once they are submitted, you cannot change them. Keep these copies filed properly and on-hand.
6) Submit a copy of the form to us at the NCRA/ANREC via this form
7) There will be a ‘Celebration Email Chain’, we encourage stations to post to this thread once you have submitted your annual return!
If you are not broadcasting on the air between Sept 1 2023 and Aug 31 2024, you must submit your Rep B form, and e-mail cd-dc@crtc.gc.ca to notify.
You MAY or MAY NOT get a Rep U form to complete.
Check List to complete
| Item | Check | Item | Check | |
| Logged into GCKey | COVID-19 Government Assistance (1420B) | |||
| Financial Form (908) | Rep B Form (Finances) | |||
| Financial Form (909) | Rep U Form (Ownership) [Some stations may not get this] | |||
| Finance Form – Summary (1110) | PEDR (Attach your Finances) | |||
| Station Profile (1121) | Submit by November 24th (30th) | |||
| Radio Expenses Summary (1135) | Submit information to NCRA via THIS LINK | |||
| Alcohol Advertising (1340) | Place your forms in a secure location locally in the station | |||
| Emergency Broadcasting Form (1411) | Celebrate |
Need more clarification?
1) You are NOT required to have financial statements that are audited or prepared by an accountant or book-keeper.
2) That being said, the financial data you file MUST correspond to the CRTC’s Broadcast year, which is September 1 – August 31 (this year that means September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024)
If you happen to have audited statements prepared for a different fiscal year DO NOT submit or rely on them for Annual Returns. You are free to have any internal fiscal year you like but you must re-jig your data to match the CRTC year for your annual return filing. Failure to do so is a form of non-compliance. If you have questions about how to do this with your accounting system, let me know.
3) In addition to all the individual questions about your finances you are asked to upload financial statements. Again, these MUST conform to the CRTC Broadcast year of September 1 – August 31. But they don’t need to be particularly pretty or official. And if you only have paper copies, you are able to submit financial statements by fax or mail, though digital scans you can upload would be more ideal. NOTE: Only financial statements (adjusted to meet the CRTC broadcast year) can be submitted by fax or mail. Annual returns can only be submitted electronically, and cannot be submitted by fax or mail.
4) Form 1110 (radio financial summary) asks for contra or other non-monetary transactions for local and national ad sales. These figures will be automatically added to your total revenues. If (as is likely) you don’t record contra/non-monetary revenue on the financial statements you are submitting to the CRTC, use the space at the bottom of the page to say that so they don’t wonder about the discrepancy.
5) In the remuneration questions (27-31) about expenses that include “Programming and production”, “Technical”, “Sales and promotion” and “Administration and general” you can assign a portion of staff salaries to each if it reflects station realities. For instance, if you only have two staff so you each end up doing all of those things as part of your job you can split your salary costs between the different categories. But if you do this, make a note to yourself and/or future staff and Board members for future years so that they are consistent in the way they report the data year after year.
Question 32 is new and is based on Journalism. For the purpose of this survey, the definition of ‘’journalists’’ is
the number of full-time equivalent employees employed by an undertaking to produce news content. (If you filled out the CJC/Google form (see Q25)), this requires a similar answer, but for the broadcast year 2024. Do your best to get this as close to what you think it would be, but do not spend a lot of time on it, as its data collection and not tied to anything the CRTC would be auditing or monitoring.
6) Questions 38-39 about volunteers, I would suggest you try to get as accurate a number of volunteers as possible, including on-air/behind-the-scenes AND members of your Board of Directors and any committees.
You can guesstimate the number of hours worked by volunteers (again, during the CRTC broadcast year of September 1 – August 31) but I would suggest you count: on-air time, an average estimate of prep time (at least 1:1 for music shows and reasonably 2:1 for spoken word, I think) as well as other station activities, special events and again, don’t forget to count Board meetings (if you have 10 directors meeting once a month for 2 hours that’s an additional 240 hours a year.)
But as with questions 27-31 above, make note for yourself of how you calculated the numbers so you can use a similar formula in the future.
7) The only supporting documents you need to provide are executed amended bylaws and financial statements. Everything else can be filled in manually on the form without supporting documents.
8) If you log-in and there is only a rep B/U form and none of the financial information, do not just submit that and think you are done. Your account is not the correct account to which the CRTC believes is “controlling” for the station. You must contact small undertakings and get things sorted out. (1-866-845-6036)
9) As above, it is our goal that every single NCRA member who is required to file, files on time! So please LET US KNOW WHEN YOU FILE!!! I will check your name off the master list and do a happy dance. (Feel free to post it on the members’ listServ so we can all happy dance)
2024 Support Forms