‘Survival of a francophone radio station’

Staff layoffs, spending cutbacks and postponed equipment investments have become a reality at one of Manitoba’s largest francophone radio stations.

Now, Envol 91 FM is seeking a rent reduction on the transmission tower it uses. CBC, the structure’s owner, won’t budge, according to Envol leadership.

It’s led to a year-long negotiation, with Envol (CKXL-FM, 91.1) threatening legal action and arguing CBC isn’t abiding by its mandate.

“I’m looking to work with them,” said Denis-Michel Thibeault, executive director of Envol 91 FM and a former CBC reporter.

“I don’t want to be a cost to them. I’m willing to pay my electricity, I’m willing to pay my share of maintenance … but at the end of the day, we need to find a way to make sure these costs go down. It is the survival of a francophone radio station that is in play here.”

The French-language station began in 1991. It’s the only major francophone radio source in Manitoba that isn’t the CBC. (Winnipeg-based University of Saint Boniface also has a francophone radio station: CABU.FM.)

Envol clocked 117,000 listeners last year. It broadcasts within Winnipeg and around 110 kilometres beyond the city, reaching — roughly — Gimli in the north, the United States border to the south, the Ontario border to the east and Portage la Prairie to the west.

Thibeault took over as executive director about two years ago, after sitting on its board of directors. He found the station in a “very bad financial situation.”

“We were spending way more than we were making,” Thibeault said.

The station has been losing advertising revenue since 2014, he said. It’s a common story for many traditional media companies. Online giants like Google and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) have become boons for advertising dollars.

Large brands looking for francophone audiences might funnel cash to a Montreal station instead of Envol. Local groups lessened their advertising following the COVID-19 pandemic and government ads are fewer, Thibeault said.

He said Envol has laid off a handful of staff and restructured other positions to save money. The company now counts seven employees and at least 30 volunteers.

Volunteers sometimes run programming. The station touts francophone culture through coverage like music and sports.

It’s stopped providing lunch at its annual general meeting and has put off replacing its soundboard.

After staff, the biggest expense is renting CBC’s Starbuck-based tower for broadcasting, Thibeault said. The annual cost comes just under $35,000 — a jump from roughly $30,000 in 2019, Thibeault stated.

He recalled starting a conversation with the public broadcaster last year, asking for a rent reduction. He said he once threatened legal action, arguing CBC isn’t fulfilling its legal mandate.

CBC must abide by the Official Languages Act and the Broadcasting Act. Through the legislation, CBC is obligated to promote the development of francophone communities in minority situations.

CBC declined to share details of its agreement with Envol, citing confidentiality.

“We remain in discussion with them,” Leon Mar, CBC’s media relations director, wrote in a statement.

Envol 91 FM’s ownership gets a discount because of the company’s community radio station status, Mar said.

CBC recently released a 2025-30 strategic plan. Supporting other media via resource sharing is among the actions listed in the strategy.

“I feel like the CBC is all talk right now but no action,” Thibeault said. “Here’s a moment that you can go from words to action.”

He pointed to CBC’s budget: in its 2024-25 fiscal year, CBC noted $1.4 billion in government funding and $588 million in revenue (and expenses of $1.9 billion). Envol’s request is “a drop in the ocean for them,” Thibeault said.

It could be argued assisting Envol would align with the public broadcaster’s mandate, said Guy Jourdain, co-ordinator of the Association of French-speaking Jurists of Manitoba.

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A 2023 amendment to the Official Languages Act requires federal institutions to take “positive measures” to enhance the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities.

Jourdain was echoed by Mark Power, an Ottawa-based lawyer who specializes in language rights. CBC must consider Manitobans’ wants and needs when taking steps to promote French culture, Power said.

“Is the community asking them to help support, a bit more, the francophone community radio station?” Power said. “If yes, then it would seem to me to be a logical way of implementing these … federal legal obligations.

“They have to take into consideration what the community is telling them.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.