Written with AI assistance and may contain mistakes. Verify against the official Transport Canada publications before relying on anything here.

ATS unit call signs

ATS ground station call sign = location name + function word (RIC-21 5.6.3): "Toronto Ground", "Ottawa Centre".

Category	Function	Call sign word
Airport Control	Clearance Delivery	`CLEARANCE DELIVERY`
Airport Control	Ground Control	`GROUND`
Airport Control	Tower Control	`TOWER`
Terminal Control	Arrival Control	`ARRIVAL`
Terminal Control	Departure Control	`DEPARTURE`
Terminal Control	Terminal Control (combined arrival/departure)	`TERMINAL`
Terminal Control	Precision Approach Radar	`PRECISION`
Area Control	Area Control Centre	`CENTRE`
Flight Service Station (FSS)	Aerodrome Advisory Service	`RADIO`
Flight Information Centre (FIC)	Flight Information Service Enroute (FISE)	`RADIO`
Private Aeronautical Station	Private Aeronautical Station	`RADIO`
Community Aerodrome Radio Station (CARS)	Weather and information service, remote/northern sites	`AIRPORT RADIO`
Company Dispatch	Company Dispatch	`DISPATCH`

Older words: RIC-21 5.6.3 examples use Edmonton Delivery, Ottawa Information (FSS), Eskimo Tower (CARS). Table has current NAV CANADA words.

RADIO (FSS, FIC, private aeronautical station):

Non-ATC voices. Word does not distinguish them; only location name does (RIC-21 5.6.3).
FSS call sign = unit name + RADIO, e.g. "TIMMINS RADIO", not "Flight Service Station" (NAV CANADA VFR Phraseology, ATS call sign table; PSTAR 3.24).

CARS: uses AIRPORT RADIO, not RADIO (VFR Phraseology). Operators provide:

Remote outlets (RCO, PAL):

Call sign is the ATS unit responsible for the frequency, not the outlet's site.
One operator can be responsible for several RCOs: state the airport you are near on initial call.

Trap: do not swap ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE, GROUND/TOWER, or TERMINAL/CENTRE; an RCO's call sign does not name its physical location.

PPL Tester