Canadians will get an emergency alert test on Wednesday. Here's what to expect
Canada's emergency notification system will be sending out a test alert on Wednesday.
The messages will come from
Alert Ready
and broadcast in
every province and territory except for Quebec
. Messages will be sent through televisions, radios and LTE-connected or other compatible wireless devices.
The test will run at various times Wednesday depending on the region.
In Ontario
, the notification will be sent out at 12:55 p.m. and can be identified by a distinctive, alert tone.
The alerts are sent out during emergencies to warn people about a
variety of situations
such as environmental disasters or civil and national safety threats.
People cannot opt-out of receiving the alerts or test alerts since the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requires service providers to distribute alerts to all compatible cellphones.
'When an alert is heard, it is the responsibility of the public to stop, listen and respond as directed by the Government Issuer,' a message on the Alert Ready website reads.
Almost 240 alerts were sent out in Ontario last year, including four civil emergencies, four AMBER alerts and
nearly 230 tornado warnings
. Across the country, a total of 855 notifications were used to warn the public.
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