Should Non-hams have BaoFengs in their emergency kits?

You would be hard-pressed to find a website that is outlining what to place in an emergency kit for your family home, car, or workplace, that didn’t include a battery-powered radio on the list.  But this doesn’t necessarily mean a Boafeng radio or other ham radio apparatus.

Red Cross recommends that you keep a disaster preparedness kit in your home with enough supplies to meet your family’s needs for at least 3 days.  Canada Government emergency preparedness website also suggests your emergency kit should contain basic supplies that your family can survive on during an emergency — even in cases where the power is out for an extended period. Each emergency kit list includes a battery-powered radio and traditional these have been AM/FM radios.

The ability to hear AM/FM stations or listen to the Weatheradio transmitter is important during a disaster. Emergency communications with radio apparatus are often crucial when disaster strikes, like we recently saw when Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas: Cellular networks get overloaded and become unavailable, infrastructure fails, and internet connections go dark. That means you need a proper emergency radio apparatus. This has lead many people to have a simple and low-cost Ham radio in their emergency kit bag. With a simple search in Google for the term “baofeng emergency radio” and you will realize just how popular these radios are for the average citizen to add to their Emergency kit bags. 

Even in the ham radio community, it’s generally excepted that if you don’t transmit then it’s fine for none license hams to own amateur radio apparatus. Many of these low-cost Asian radios have become a gateway radio for people to enter the hobby and get their license down the road.

Unfortunately, this is illegal and against Canadian law, owning or possessing a radio apparatus is prohibited unless you are a holder of an amateur radio license.

4(1)(b) of the Radiocomunication Act essentially says that possession of radio apparatus is prohibited unless allowed by the act or a regulation Prohibitions 4 (1) No person shall, except under and in accordance with a radio authorization, install, operate or possess radio apparatus, other than (a) radio apparatus exempted by or under regulations made under paragraph 6(1)(m); or 3(a)(ii) of the Radiocommunication Regulations essentially says a licensed amateur is authorized to possess amateur radio equipment

Radio apparatus means a device or combination of devices intended for, or capable of being used for, radiocommunication.

It is important to point out that Canadian law is different then the American law. American Law is often cited when discussing the use of the Baofeng or other amateur radio apparatus.

Radios that transmit on specific frequencies such as the Family Band (FRS) or GMRS frequencies require appropriate licencing. In order to legally transmit on those bands, the radio requires a certification from Industry Canada. The BaoFeng family of radios is considered to be an amateur (HAM) radio and does NOT have the required certifications to transmit outside of HAM radio frequencies.

The BaoFeng radios can not legally be used to transmit outside of HAM frequencies unless the operator holds the appropriate certifications. Amateur (HAM) radio licences can be obtained from Industry Canada, see our blog post that contains HAM radio licencing resources.

Canadian law doesn’t allow for listening (scanning) radio frequencies with Ham Radio apparatus or with Baofengs radios. If you have a new BaoFeng UV-5R IC radio and utilize it to listen to local weather repeaters, emergency services, etc it isn’t legal for you to own this radio without a ham license. The good news is that that the ISED inspectors, don’t seem to really care. You could line your walls with ham radio gear without concern. They will act if you use it improperly and cause interference or otherwise cause complaints. Which is most often police by local ham radio clubs.

So the official letter of the law according to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada ( ISED ), and the Radio Communications Act is that these radios can only be used on HAM frequencies. Any other use would be in contravention of the Radio Communications Act. If you don’t have a Ham license you can not possess them and citizens should stick to a simple AM/FM radio in their emergency kit.