Verified Frequencies, How They’re Used, and What They Reveal During Real Emergencies
As Canadian emergency services have transitioned almost entirely to encrypted digital communications, the era of casually monitoring police or EMS traffic with a scanner is effectively over. What has not disappeared is the parallel communications layer that has quietly carried Canadian emergencies for decades: amateur radio emergency nets.
These nets are not informal chatter. They are structured, disciplined, and they form on predictable frequencies that experienced operators across the country recognize instinctively. For preparedness-minded Canadians, understanding where these nets appear restores much of the situational awareness that public-safety radio once provided—without relying on speculation or delayed official messaging.
If you’re new to the communications side of preparedness, this topic builds directly on the fundamentals covered in CPN’s overview of emergency radio use in Canada, where the legal, technical, and practical groundwork is laid out in more detail.
Why Amateur Radio Nets Matter More Now
Encryption has changed how emergencies sound, but not how they unfold. Power still fails, roads still wash out, fuel still runs short, and hospitals still strain under pressure. Amateur radio nets capture these realities because they rely on human observation rather than centralized infrastructure.
During ice storms, floods, wildfires, and prolonged outages, amateur operators report what they see: outage boundaries, road closures, shelter activity, and weather severity on the ground. This kind of pattern-based intelligence often surfaces hours before it appears in press releases or official dashboards.
National HF Emergency Frequencies in Canada
In Canada, emergency-oriented amateur activity aligns closely with recommendations published by the Radio Amateurs of Canada. These frequencies are not exclusive channels; rather, they act as national meeting points where operators naturally gather when conditions deteriorate.
HF Emergency Voice and Digital Frequencies
| Band | Voice (SSB) | Digital | Typical Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 m | 3.675 MHz LSB | 3.596 MHz | Nighttime, winter storms, provincial coverage |
| 40 m | 7.135 MHz LSB | 7.096 MHz | Day/evening regional coordination |
| 20 m | 14.135 MHz USB | 14.096 MHz | Inter-provincial and national traffic |
| 17 m | 18.135 MHz USB | 18.096 MHz | Daytime backup, lower congestion |
| 15 m | 21.235 MHz USB | 21.096 MHz | Long-range daytime support |
| 10 m | 28.235 MHz USB | 28.096 MHz | Sporadic propagation, limited use |
For monitoring purposes, these frequencies are ideal starting points. Nets typically form here and only move slightly if interference becomes an issue. Simply parking a receiver on these ranges during severe weather or outages provides a reliable early-warning window.
How HF Emergency Nets Behave in Canadian Conditions
High Frequency radio provides regional and provincial awareness, not street-level detail. Its strength lies in scale.
On 80 metres, emergency nets dominate during evenings, overnight hours, and winter conditions. Thanks to NVIS propagation, signals reflect almost straight down over wide areas, making this band exceptionally effective for Ontario-wide or multi-province coordination. This is why low, horizontal wire antennas—like those discussed in CPN’s guide to winter-effective emergency antennas—perform so well for emergency monitoring.
On 40 metres, activity appears earlier in the day and remains viable into the evening. This band is often the first place emergency coordination becomes audible as floods, wildfires, or large storm systems begin to overwhelm infrastructure.
Higher bands such as 20 metres and above tend to carry summary-level traffic rather than granular detail, but they clearly signal when an incident has grown beyond a single province.
Digital Modes: Quiet but Significant
Voice nets are the most obvious activity, but digital amateur radio modes play a critical supporting role during emergencies. These modes are used to pass structured information such as situation reports, welfare messages, and resource requests.
Digital activity commonly appears on the paired frequencies listed above using modes such as Winlink or FLdigi. Even without decoding the traffic, the presence and persistence of digital signals is meaningful. When digital traffic ramps up, it usually indicates formal coordination and escalation.
VHF Nets and Simplex Activity: Local Reality
While HF nets provide the big picture, VHF amateur radio is where neighbourhood-level detail appears.
When repeaters fail or become unreliable, amateur operators routinely switch to simplex operation. This transition alone is an important indicator that infrastructure is degrading.
Common VHF Emergency Monitoring Frequencies
| Band | Frequency | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| 2 m | 146.520 MHz FM | National simplex calling |
| 2 m | 146.415–146.580 MHz | Local emergency simplex |
| 70 cm | 446.000 MHz FM | Urban coordination |
The national calling frequency, 146.520 MHz, often becomes active during storms and blackouts. Short, factual transmissions reveal details that rarely appear in official statements until much later: which roads are impassable, where trees are down, and which neighbourhoods remain without power.
This type of local intelligence ties directly into broader preparedness planning, particularly when paired with off-grid power considerations like those outlined in CPN’s article on off-grid power planning for communications equipment.
What Emergency Nets Sound Like
Emergency nets are calm and structured. A Net Control Station manages traffic, stations check in briefly, and reports stick to facts. As conditions worsen, traffic density increases. As systems recover, activity tapers off.
That rhythm itself is valuable intelligence. You are listening for system stress and recovery patterns, not sensational details.
Monitoring Equipment That Makes Sense
You do not need exotic equipment to monitor emergency nets effectively. Antennas, power efficiency, and reliability matter more than brand prestige.
A compact HF transceiver such as the Yaesu FT-891 offers excellent HF reception in a small, power-efficient package, making it well suited to emergency monitoring:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00D3DIPD4?tag=canadpreppn01a-20
Paired with simple components—such as basic antenna wire and a manual tuner—it forms a capable monitoring station that aligns well with the practical antenna approaches discussed in CPN’s emergency antenna resources:
Antenna wire: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08G8JQ6B6?tag=canadpreppn01a-20
Manual tuner: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07Z5L4Q5C?tag=canadpreppn01a-20
For VHF monitoring, a basic dual-band handheld radio is sufficient. A commonly used option like the Baofeng UV-5R, paired with an upgraded antenna, performs well for local listening:
Radio: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E4I8L4K?tag=canadpreppn01a-20
Antenna: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00KC4PWQQ?tag=canadpreppn01a-20
Power Independence Is Part of Monitoring
Emergency nets assume operators are off-grid, and monitoring them should assume the same. Radios powered directly from 12-volt systems are far more resilient than AC-only setups.
A deep-cycle AGM battery can support days of HF and VHF listening without grid power and integrates well into the layered power strategies already outlined in CPN’s communications-focused power planning articles:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00K8E8DHC?tag=canadpreppn01a-20
Legal Context in Canada
Listening to amateur radio is legal in Canada without a licence. Transmitting requires ISED certification, but monitoring emergency nets for preparedness and situational awareness is lawful, involves no encryption, and does not circumvent protected systems.
What Amateur Nets Reveal That Encrypted Systems Don’t
Even without access to police or EMS traffic, amateur radio nets consistently reveal outage boundaries, infrastructure failures, medical transport strain, shelter activity, volunteer coordination, and—most importantly—whether conditions are escalating or stabilizing.
This is not rumor. It is pattern-based intelligence drawn from real people experiencing real conditions.
Final Thought
You don’t need access to encrypted public-safety radios to understand an emergency. You need to know where Canadians communicate when infrastructure is strained.
Amateur radio emergency nets remain one of the clearest windows into that reality—and they continue to function when nearly everything else goes quiet.
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