It represents the interests of the sector to government (particularly the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)) and other agencies, and promotes community radio in Canada.
In August 1983, NCRC delegates voted to formalize the structure of the NCRO further and to establish a volunteer office to carry out a variety of services for member stations.
The Canadian music magazine Chart was founded as an internal NCRA/ANREC publication; when it incorporated as an independent newsstand title, the NCRA began publishing !earshot, which is a regular supplement in Exclaim!.
The money was given by Corus Entertainment to the NCRA/ANREC to start up and maintain the Dig Your Roots/Découvre tes racines project, a series of genre-specific compilation albums that coincided with live concert simulcast broadcasts.
During the conference, delegates attend workshops, seminars, the annual general meeting of the NCRA (during which board members are elected, the treasurer's report is approved, the business of the association is accomplished by the membership, and the next conference's host radio station selected), seminars, live shows, and feature presentations.