Controversial radio host Howard Stern will soon be heard via satellite radio in Canada after Sirius confirmed it was adding him to the lineup.

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" and infamous shock jock hits the Canadian airwaves Monday where he will be heard on his Howard 100 channel.

This follows his debut on Sirius in the United States on Jan 9.

Mark Redmond, Sirius Canada president and CEO, told The Canadian Press Wednesday that Stern was clearly a powerful force in the entertainment world and that while "he's not to everybody's taste" it was time to get him on board.

A longtime New York radio personality, Stern, 52, attracted millions of listeners across North America each week with his raunchy sense of humour.

Forbes magazine ranked him 27th on its list of the most powerful celebrities in North America in 2005.

However, Stern found himself frequently under fire from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which repeatedly fined him for indecency and obscenity violations.

Stern also has a checkered history on Canadian radio. Rock stations in Toronto and Montreal imported his syndicated show in the 1990s in an effort to boost ratings.

But after a flood of complaints to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commision, Stern was eventually dropped by CHOM-FM in Montreal and Q-107 in Toronto.

One of those complaints came from Fo Niemi, from the Centre for Action on Race Relations. Niemi believes there's no place for Stern's often offensive humour on Canadian airwaves.

"It's a kind of humour that has been condemned because that kind of humour violates human dignity," Niemie told CTV News.

However, Redmond dismissed suggestions that Stern will once again run afoul of the CBSC, saying there are now three levels of control.

First, he said, it's a subscription service; second, there are parental controls on the receivers that can be used to block channels; and third, the service can be purchased with or without Sirius Canada's six channels of "mature" content.

Redmond also played down reports that Sirius may have lost thousands of potential subscribers because of the nearly one-month delay in launching stern in Canada.

Many Canadian fans are believed to have already purchased American receivers to access Stern's satellite channel from the U.S.

"At this point we're more concerned with addressing future subscribers," he told CP.

Andre Arthur, a former radio shock jock in his own right, and one of Quebec's new MPs, is thrilled that Stern will be back on the air in Canada.

Having been condemned by the CRTC for his own controversial beliefs, he has sympathy for those who push the boundaries of free speech. He believes what Sirius is doing is good for the industry.

"I hope there will be a confrontation, and I hope the CRTC loses badly," Arthur said.

Stern announced his signing of a $500-million, five-year deal with Sirius in October 2004. The subscriber-based satellite radio network, along with cable television, is not subject to federal indecency regulations.

Sirius Canada is co-owned by the U.S. Sirius Satellite Company, the CBC and Standard Radio. It launched its subscription service in early December.