Canada’s modernized weather-radar network

On February 28, 2017, The Government of Canada announced the replacement of its weather-radar network. At that time, Canada’s radar network consisted of a mix of older radars including two radars operated in partnership with the Department of National Defence and one owned by McGill University. A contract was awarded to buy and install a total of 32 new radars across the country to replace the old network, as well as a new training radar, which helps train technologists and engineers on how to maintain the radar systems. This includes the addition of a radar in the Fort McMurray area of Alberta, expanding Canada’s operational radar network as well as a non-operational radar dedicated to testing and training. The new S-band dual polarization radars have been completed and fully integrated into the forecasting process as of August 2023.

** Radar is for training and test purposes. Currently not operational/online.

Extended tornado-detection range

The new radars also have an extended severe-weather detection range to cover more of Canada, increasing the Doppler range to 240 kilometres per radar from the previous 120 kilometres. Doubling the Doppler range gives Canadians greater lead-time to protect themselves and their families from tornadoes and other severe weather. Extending Doppler coverage of the weather-radar network also allows for better overlap of neighbouring radars in case of an outage.

Dual polarization: a leading-edge technology

These state-of-the-art radars have fully integrated dual-polarization technology, which enables forecasters to better distinguish between rain, snow, hail, and freezing rain as well as better discern the size, shape, and variety of precipitation particles. This technology also enables better identification and removal of non-meteorological targets such as birds, bugs, and debris from the data. As a result, meteorologists can use the data to issue more precise and timely weather watches and warnings for significant weather events, giving Canadians more lead time to take appropriate actions to protect themselves, their family, and their property from the effects of severe weather.

Better serving weather-sensitive industries

Economic sectors sensitive to weather events such as agriculture, natural resources, fisheries, construction, aviation, tourism, transportation, retail, and investors now benefit from higher data quality and consistency for severe-weather events as weather information is an important part of their strategic planning. For example, weather-radar imagery is used to help in safely routing planes around severe weather.

The improved weather-data quality also allows for more effective use of the information in other areas, such as water management, as radar images are used to understand the effects of precipitation on drainage basins, in particular in support of flood forecasting by provinces.

Health safety

The new weather radars comply with Health Canada’s Radio frequency exposure limits in all modes of operation. These guidelines are used to establish safe distances for radio frequency exposure to the general public. Compliance has been verified by a third party and was demonstrated to Industry Canada before each radar’s  operating license was granted.

Radar structure

The radar structure is composed of an open lattice steel tower with a 12-metre diameter radome on top. The total height will vary from one site to another depending on the location and surroundings. Generally, the weather radars are about 40 meters high or the equivalent of a 12-storey building.

Post radar installation updates

In 2022, ECCC, along with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada created custom-designed filters to address radio frequency interference that affected some of Canada’s new weather radars. The interference was caused by cell phone signals and other sources. This can impact radar data quality and the weather services ECCC provides to Canadians. After the test installation, the filters are being rolled out to all impacted radars. 

Related products

• About Radar
• Radar 101
• Historical radar data

Replacement schedule

The first radar to be replaced was installed in fall 2017 at Radisson, Saskatchewan (near Saskatoon) and the other radars were replaced at a rate of two to seven per year through 2023.

Several factors were taken into account to determine the radar replacement order and schedule. This included:

• operational stability
• climate and local severe weather frequency
• location
• access to the radar sites

System design and construction plans also influenced the decision-making process. Some radars were relocated to improve coverage or for operational reasons.