Canada’s 84-year radio time check has stopped because of accuracy concerns

Enlarge / A woman walks past a logo for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2022. (credit: Getty Images)

“The beginning of the long dash indicates exactly 1 o’clock Eastern daylight time.”

Millions of Canadians grew accustomed to hearing a version of this daily affirmation on CBC Radio One. The National Research Council Time Signal, and the series of 800 Hz “pips” that preceded and followed the time-setting dash, worked its way into everyday rituals. Human listeners, and automated radio receivers at railways, shipping firms, and other entities, could set their mechanical clocks to it. That is why it started broadcasting on November 5, 1939, the same year as Canada’s entry into World War II.

The long dash’s last broadcast was, somewhat unexpectedly, October 9, 2023.