We’ve been around since the 80’s and like anyone we’ve grown and changed quite a bit!

The precursor to CFUV (CKVC) was formed in 1965 and broadcast to two student residences and the Student Union Building. After leaving the air in 1970, the campus radio was resurrected in 1981 when the UVic Campus Radio Club was formed. On December 17, 1984, CFUV became Victoria’s second FM station, broadcasting at a mere 49.4 watts on 105.1 FM.

In 1987 CFUV began working toward increasing its transmission power to over 2000 watts. After a successful student referendum and a long bureaucratic application process with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), approval was granted in September 1988; and in January 1989, CFUV began broadcasting on 101.9 FM at 2290 watts. Currently, CFUV is broadcasting terrestrially all over Greater Victoria and the Gulf Islands.

In May 1996 CFUV moved into a new studio in the lower level of the Student Union Building.

CFUV is a long-standing member of the National Campus/Community Radio Association and our content and achievements are regularly recognized by our peers and sibling stations. Our staff and volunteers have historically served on the NCRA/ANREC board of directors and various working groups to both learn new ways for CFUV to grow and to give back to the sector. CFUV has been a regular contributor to the development, implementation, and continued improvement of national nonprofit radio projects such as:

• Women’s Hands & Voices (2004) – a toolkit designed to address gender inequity at campus/community radio stations
• the DisAbilities Handbook (2009, updated in 2019) – A series of resources designed to address the exclusion or lack of accommodation for participants with disabilities in campus/community radio.
• Resonating Reconciliation (2013) – a pair of documentaries ( produced in collaboration with local indigenous communities and individuals – displaced and otherwise – on WSANEC territory. The first documentary was The Effects of Indian Residential Schools by Janet Rogers and Brian Sampson which would win a 2013 ImagineNative Award, and the second was With This We Blanket the People by Janet Rogers and Sacha Ouelet.
• Media Works (2014) – A series of documentaries around labour practices and employee rights in the media industry. CFUV’s submission was focused on trans labour rights.
• The National Mentorship Program (2019) – A partner program that linked CFUV employees with their counterparts at other stations to provide mentorship and guidance. Implemented to support station to station development and address the lack of institutional knowledge in the nonprofit sector.
• “They Don’t Come to Us” (2020) – A report and series of recommendations and guides for stations in addressing the systemic barriers preventing or challenging BIPOC participation in campus/community radio.
• The Music Director Partnership (2021) – A national partnership with our friends at CJSF (Burnaby, BC), CiTR (Vancouver, BC), CJSW (Calgary, AB), CJLO (Montreal, QB) and the NCRA/ANREC’s !earshot Distro platform to introduce a universal pathway for the music industry to share, submit, and distribute content to the nonprofit radio sector in Canada in way that is supportive of independent musicians and nonprofit radio stations of all sizes from coast to coast to coast.

We’re a local organization, and with the generous financial support from the University of Victoria Student Body, dedicated listeners and fans, and various funding bodies we’ve been able to introduce annual and ongoing local opportunities for students and community members and artists. Wherever possible these commitments are incorporated wholly into our organization and content across our various platforms.

Some of our ongoing and annual commitments to our communities around us include:

• Eventide & The Basement Closet Sessions: these are live performance opportunities with special attention paid to local artists who are: belong to underrepresented communities or genres and independent or emerging. These projects also bring free access to local music over the airwaves, online, and for most Eventide Performances, Centennial Square Downtown.
• Introductory opportunities for podcasters to tell stories by for and about: Black and POC communities, Indigenous nations and individuals, gender-diverse communities, and students (undergraduate and graduate).
• Accessibility Programming featuring content curated by teams of volunteers with disabilities
• Continued investment in a diverse and blossoming broadcast both behind the mic and through our music library.

Some other local-centric projects and partnerships CFUV has and continues to commit to:

• Indigenous Documentary Production & Indigenous led Workshops
• Podcasting Support: most recently with UVic’s Students of Colour’s PULSE zine, William Head on Stage, and the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair Collective
• Local Journalism Initiative to elevate news by and from the Afro-Caribbean and Middle-Eastern communities in Victoria
• Local and Student elections coverage
• The ReStart Program to support local businesses during COVID-19
• ARTScape
• Community Association Broadcasting: Currently alongside the White Eagle Polish Community Association and the Da Vinci Centre
• Event support: most recently with the UVSS, GEM, the Stolen Sisters March, and local festivals like Ska Fest and Left Coast Jazz Fest.

CFUV’s groundbreaking content is routinely recognized by our peers in the nonprofit radio sector with awards and honorable mentions! Flip through the years to celebrate finalists from Victoria’s only campus & community radio station! Winners are BOLDED!