Canadian Alert Ready practice drill runs this week
A test of Alert Ready, Canada's National Public Alerting System, will take place on Wednesday, across most provinces and territories (not in Quebec).
Canadians will receive a message from their provincial emergency management organization over television, radio and compatible wireless devices at:
PROVINCE OR TERRITORY TIME OF TEST
Alberta 1:55 PM MDT
British Columbia 1:55 PM PDT
Manitoba 1:55 PM CDT
New Brunswick 10:55 AM ADT
Newfoundland & Labrador 10:45 AM NDT
Northwest Territories 9:55 AM MDT
Nova Scotia 1:55 PM ADT
Nunavut 2:00 PM EDT
Ontario 12:55 PM EDT
Prince Edward Island 12:55 PM ADT
Quebec No test
Saskatchewan 1:55 PM CST
Yukon 1:55 PM YST
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requires wireless service providers and broadcasters to send at least one test alert each year.
The test message will simulate an emergency alert, beginning with the alert tone, known as the Canadian Alert Attention Signal that will indicate that it is a test and does not require action from the public.
Testing of the Alert Ready system provides:
Increases public awareness about the system, and encourages emergency preparedness conversations, so that Canadians can be ready and prepared in the event of an actual emergency
Validate the effectiveness and reliability of the system to ensure it operates as intended from end-to-end
Provides an opportunity for Emergency Management officials to practice sending alerts to the public
The test alert will be sent out on TV, radio and wireless, however, not all Canadians will receive the test alert on their mobile device. This may occur for a variety of reasons – device compatibility, connection to an LTE or 5G network, cell tower coverage and device software and settings.
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