In 1976, Stephane Venne applied for the license to operate a new station on the FM dial in Longueuil. He initially wanted 93.5 MHz (Channel 228) with a power of 10,000 watts, but this frequency was granted to CBC Radio for CBM-FM. On January 20, 1977, Radio MF CIEL (1976) Inc. got permission to use call sign CIEL-FM ("Ciel" is French for "sky"). The station went on the air April 9, 1977 with 10,000 watts, airing a French-language adult contemporary radio format. Stephane Venne was the general manager and program director.