On December 7, 1981, Des Portages was granted a licence for a new community FM station on 103.7 MHz with an effective radiated power of 60,000 watts.
On September 17, 1987, the CRTC denied the application to renew the licence for CION-FM, due to serious and persistent compliance difficulties following numerous warnings by the CRTC, in regards to being in breach of the license's conditions in regards to quotas in music, spoken word content, and advertising restrictions, in addition to interventions by other area broadcasters due to unfair competition.
The station was ordered to cease operation no later than September 30, 1987 the date on which its licence did expire and left the air.
[2] On March 14, 1990, the CRTC denied CION-FM's application to change its transmitter site from its then-current site on Mont Bleu on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River, to Mont Grand-Fonds near La Malbaie on the North Shore.
[3] Six other broadcasters opposed the move, again, due to unfair competition that would reduce the potential audience on the south shore.