It was originally established as a bilingual private affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English and French television networks.
Lavigne subsequently added rebroadcasters in several communities in Northern Ontario and Western Quebec; by 1965, CFCL had the largest privately owned microwave transmission network in the world.
Until 1980, CFCL and CKSO-2 aggressively competed with each other for advertising dollars, leaving both in a precarious financial position due to the Timmins market's relatively small size.
CTV subsequently sold its four CBC affiliates in Northern Ontario—CFCL, CHNB in North Bay, CJIC in Sault Ste.
[1] All four ceased to exist as separate stations on October 27, 2002, becoming rebroadcasters of Toronto's CBLT, with CFCL's call sign changing to CBLT-7.