Date: October 19, 2026
To: NCRA/ANREC Members
Re: Annual Returns 2026 Memo
Hello Members
TLDR: There is one small reporting change for 2026: Form 1110 adds Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC) revenue at line 11, moving the later lines down by one. Form 1135 has an instruction correction only; its questions are unchanged. Please check for your 2026 forms in GCKey and send us copies when you have completed them.
The attached package is designed to assist you with this year’s annual returns application process. Remember the deadline is November 30, 2026. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT. Last-minute system or access problems can prevent you from filing on time. Please contact the CRTC or NCRA/ANREC during regular business hours if you need help. Please PLEASE put an internal deadline of November 24, 2026 on your calendar to submit. I cannot stress this enough: check early that your 2026 forms are assigned correctly, as resolving missing forms or access issues can take several days.
The support package includes notes to help you complete the CRTC forms. Not all stations will receive the same forms. Check for 908, 909, 1110, 1135, 1340 and 1411, along with REP-B and REP-U where assigned. Complete all forms assigned to your station in DCS, and contact the CRTC if anything appears to be missing.
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 slightly different. This may seem redundant or repetitive. However, they all need to be completed and submitted correctly.
2) If you have issues, call the support lines below. This includes issues such as missing forms or the inability to log in. Make sure you call the line with time to spare before the deadline. Please note that you cannot contact the line after regular 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. Leave your station information, your name, and email, and they will get back to you in a few days.
3) You can always try us here in the office. 1-866-859-8086.
4) Save a copy of your return. Print/PDF each form as you submit it. To correct a submitted form, contact your CRTC Prime Analyst to request a new version. Keep these copies filed properly and on hand.
5) Submit a copy of the form to us at the NCRA/ANREC via this form
6) There will be a ‘Celebration Email Chain’; we encourage stations to post to this thread once you have submitted your annual return!
If you were not broadcasting between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026, complete the applicable non-operating information in REP-B and email [email protected]. Complete all assigned forms unless the CRTC directs otherwise.
You MAY or MAY NOT get a REP-U form to complete.
Check List to complete
| Item | Check | Item | Check | |
| Logged into GCKey | Confirm 2026 form assignments | |||
| Board of Directors (908) | REP-B (Broadcasting profile) | |||
| Corporate Control (909) | REP-U (Reporting entity profile, if assigned) | |||
| Financial Summary (1110) | Upload financial statements in REP-B | |||
| Any additional forms assigned in DCS | Target: Nov. 24, 2026 Due: Nov. 30, 2026 |
|||
| Radio Expenses Summary (1135) | Submit information to NCRA/ANREC via THIS LINK | |||
| Alcohol Advertising (1340) | Keep your forms in a secure location at the station. | |||
| Emergency Alert Report (1411) | Celebrate |
Need more clarification?
1) Non-audited financial statements are generally permitted for radio licensees that are not public companies and whose combined radio advertising revenues do not exceed $10 million, unless the CRTC requires otherwise. Follow the preparation and certification requirements in Circular 404.
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, 2025 – August 31, 2026)
If you happen to have audited statements prepared for a different fiscal year, DO NOT use them as a substitute for financial information covering the CRTC broadcast year. 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 any questions about how to implement this with your accounting system, please let me know.
3) In addition to all the individual questions about your finances, you are asked to upload financial statements through REP-B. Again, these MUST cover September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026. If you only have paper copies, scan them for upload. Follow the financial-statement requirements above, and contact the CRTC if you need help providing the documents. Annual returns must be submitted electronically through DCS.
New for 2026: Report Canadian Journalism Collective revenue separately on Form 1110, line 11. Do not also include it under Other revenue (now line 12). Total revenue is now line 13. The remaining lines have moved down by one; use the updated references below.
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 (29-33 on Form 1110) 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 have only two staff members and each of you ends 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.
Form 1110, line 34 asks for the number of journalists, measured as full-time equivalent employees employed to produce news content. Report for the September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026 broadcast year, using your records and a consistent calculation method. Form 1135 still reports news remuneration at line 9, local news at line 10 and total remuneration at line 11. Its instructions now correctly refer to news remuneration on line 9, rather than line 1; no new questions have been added.
6) Questions 36-37 on Form 1110 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.)
However, as with questions 29-34 above, take note of how you calculated the numbers so you can use a similar formula in the future.
7) Upload your financial statements and any supporting documents requested by your assigned forms. For Form 909, this includes amended bylaws, constituting documents or agreements where applicable.
8) If you log in and there is only a REP-B/REP-U form and none of the financial information, do not just submit that and think you are done. Check the form assignments with your station’s DCS Response Manager. You must contact DCS Filing re: System information at 1-866-845-6036 or the Small Undertakings Line at 1-866-781-1911 to get things sorted out. This can take a few days.
9) As above, it is our goal that every single licenced NCRA/ANREC 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 together)
Support Forms – In This Folder (PDF and Excel)
If you have logged into DCS, it should look something like this. These screenshots show a 2025 example; select your 2026 forms.
You should see the green box that says “Form assignments” and should have a number of forms issued.
On the left menu, the top option is “Forms”, which should take you to a screen with a list of forms to fill out, like this (your annual return period should be 2026 BY):
On the right, choose “ViewForm” for each form, fill them out, and when you are certain, click “Submit Form”. (I usually fill them out, hit “Save Form” and then review them all when I’m done.)