Previously licensed as a rebroadcaster of CBLA-FM in Toronto, it began originating a limited amount of programming targeting Waterloo Region and surrounding cities in March 2013.

[2] Prior to 1999, the Kitchener-Waterloo area received CBC Radio programming through CBL Toronto, whose city-grade signal easily covered most of southern Ontario.

The other major city in Waterloo Region, Cambridge, was originally said to be not part of the initial local coverage focus,[5] though this decision was reversed by the time the station launched.

As the CBC had previously been permitted to air different program schedules on different rebroadcasters of CBLA-FM (as noted above) it was not obviously clear that the broadcast was improper, even with the conversion application still outstanding.

However, in the evening of April 23, 2013, the CBC announced it had been informed that the early launch was in fact not permitted, which it termed an "unfortunate oversight", and that it was pulling the terrestrial broadcasts of The Morning Edition and other separate Kitchener-Waterloo programming until the new licence was fully approved.