Canada — RSS-Gen Issue 6 and RSS-310 Issue 6 Significantly Update Radio-Compliance Requirements

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) published RSS-Gen Issue 6 and RSS-310 Issue 6 on 30 July 2026, followed by Amendment 1 to both standards on 15 September 2026. The revisions introduce a number of important technical and administrative changes affecting radio equipment intended for the Canadian market.

RSS-Gen Issue 6 provides substantially more detail on the Category I equipment listing process, licensing requirements, normative references, measurement requirements and test-report content. One particularly important clarification is that, for Category I certification, the test report submitted with the application must generally be dated no more than 12 months before the certification application, although the individual tests may have been performed earlier, provided they remain valid against the applicable requirements.

A one-year transition period runs until 30 July 2027. During this period, applications may continue to demonstrate compliance with either RSS-Gen Issue 5 or Issue 6. After that date, certification applications and equipment placed on the Canadian market must comply with Issue 6.

RSS-310 Issue 6 also introduces relevant changes for less conventional radio products. Requirements have been added for stand-alone receivers and passive RFID tags, while the previous broad exclusions for transmitters with input power of 6 nW or less and equipment operating below 9 kHz have been revised. These devices are now specifically exempt from certain requirements such as labelling, user-manual and test-report provisions rather than being treated as generally outside ISED requirements.

Why It Matters for Manufacturers

Manufacturers and laboratories should start updating Canadian radio-compliance test plans now rather than waiting until the end of the transition period in July 2027.

The revisions are particularly relevant for RFID products, stand-alone receivers, very-low-power transmitters, equipment below 9 kHz and other products for which a manufacturer may previously have assumed a broad regulatory exemption.

For products intended for both the United States and Canada, combined FCC/ISED test programmes remain an efficient approach, but the Canadian portion should now clearly identify the requirements that are specific to RSS-Gen Issue 6 and RSS-310 Issue 6. Using an older FCC/RSS-Gen template without reviewing these differences can leave gaps in the test report or certification documentation.

For new product developments, applying Issue 6 from the outset can also reduce the risk of needing additional testing or documentation when the transition period ends.

More information:
Marjan Mak
E-mail: marjan.mak@siq.si
Tel.: +386 1 4778 178