The 5850–5895 MHz range was not part of Wi-Fi in Canada until recently. It was reserved for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and connected vehicle applications, and standard Wi-Fi devices had no business there. With RSS-247 Issue 4 (July 2025), ISED formally opened this 45 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi use.
This adds new channels at the top of the 5 GHz band: channels 173, 177, and partially 169 (more on that one in the next post in this series).
What Has Changed?
ISED added the 5850–5895 MHz band to RSS-247 in Issue 4, Section 7.3.5. This band was previously outside the scope of Wi-Fi regulations in Canada. It is now explicitly defined, with separate rules for indoor and outdoor use.
Download the 5 GHz channels in Canada (PDF, 61 kB)
Regulations for This Band
This band has more complex rules than most, because indoor and outdoor deployments are treated differently.
Download the 5 GHz regulations in Canada (PDF, 90 kB)
Indoor Use
For indoor APs and subordinate devices:
- Max EIRP: 4 W (36 dBm).
- Max EIRP spectral density: 20 dBm/MHz.
- No license required.
- The AP must be wired-powered (no battery), have a permanent antenna, no weatherized enclosure, and a direct connection to the Internet.
- The device must be labelled (or include in the user manual) "for indoor use only".
- Indoor client devices are limited to 1 W (30 dBm) EIRP and 14 dBm/MHz spectral density, and must be under the control of an indoor AP.
Outdoor Use
Outdoor use is limited to fixed APs and fixed client devices only. Portable or mobile devices are not permitted outdoors in this band.
- Fixed outdoor AP: Max EIRP 4 W (36 dBm), max EIRP spectral density 23 dBm/MHz.
- Fixed outdoor client: Max EIRP 1 W (30 dBm), max EIRP spectral density 17 dBm/MHz.
- Elevation mask applies: The max EIRP measured at any elevation angle greater than 30° above the horizonshall not exceed 125 mW (21 dBm). This is to protect satellites operating in this range.
- No license required, but the elevation mask is mandatory.
What This Means for Wi-Fi Designs
For indoor deployments, this band is straightforward: high power, no license, no DFS. It behaves like a clean extension of the 5 GHz band.
For outdoor deployments, the elevation mask is the critical constraint. Any fixed outdoor AP in this band must ensure it does not radiate more than 125 mW above 30° elevation. This is not a typical parameter in standard Wi-Fi planning tools, so verify that your equipment vendor supports compliance with this mask before deploying outdoors.
Note also that channel 169 (center frequency 5845 MHz) straddles the 5850 MHz boundary between the 5725–5850 MHz band and this new 5850–5895 MHz band. That specific case is covered in detail in the next post in this series.
Should You Use This Band Now?
For indoor use, I would not recommend deploying these channels in production networks yet. Channels 169, 173 and 177 are very new to the Canadian regulatory landscape, and client device support is limited. If an AP transmits on these channels, clients that do not support them will simply not connect, creating silent coverage gaps that are hard to troubleshoot. Wait until client support is well established before adding these channels to a production design.
For outdoor use, the elevation mask requirement adds a layer of complexity. Verify equipment compliance before deploying.
The Rest of the Series
This post is the fourth one from the series. Here are links to the other ones:
- Updated 5 GHz Wi-Fi Regulations in Canada (RSS-247, July 2025)
- 5150–5250 MHz: new outdoor & licensing rules
- New DFS channels unlocked: 120, 124 and 128
- The channel 144 and 169 case: when channels cross sub-bands
- What this means for Wi-Fi engineers: a practical checklist
Resources
All the information in this post is based on the official ISED documents. You can find them here:
- RSS-247 (Issue 4, July 2025) – Digital Transmission Systems, Local Area Network Devices, and Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint Equipment Operating in Licence-Exempt Frequency Bands