Police are investigating a threat that was faxed to the Winnipeg School Division Wednesday morning, but schools have informed parents it was a hoax.

Around 8:30 a.m., a message was sent to the division office that contained a "threat to all schools within the division," Winnipeg police said.

The threat was "received anonymously from an out-of-country location," according to a form letter sent home with students from a school in the division.

The school division immediately contacted the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) and "appropriate steps were taken to maintain school safety," the letter states, though it doesn't say what those steps were.

"Winnipeg Police Service informed us at 10:30 a.m. that the threat was deemed to be a hoax."

Police told CBC there was no need for any of the division's 78 schools to be locked down or evacuated.

Even if a threat appears to be a hoax, the service said it "responds to incidents of this nature with the highest priority," a police news release stated.

Police acknowledge threat made to Winnipeg schools. <a href="https://t.co/ejN7jqkZGc">https://t.co/ejN7jqkZGc</a> —@wpgpolice

Police said there is likely some kind of connection between the message and similar threats that prompted the evacuation of all schools in Prince Edward Island, including Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island.

Two campuses of the Nova Scotia Community College — the IT campus in Halifax and Marconi campus in Sydney — were also evacuated as a result of similar threats.

The threat to the eastern schools — received via fax by RCMP in Ottawa — didn't specify any particular schools, but it did say bombs would be detonated Wednesday, RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Baillie told a news conference in Charlottetown on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking about the threats to P.E.I. and Nova Scotia schools, told reporters on Wednesday that his staff informed him all staff and children are safe and "the situation is under control."

"As a parent, I know how worrisome this situation can be, and I know that the affected parents must be having a very difficult day," he said.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely."