Public Safety | Alert Ready

Don't be alarmed: Test emergency alert coming to your cell

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Leeanna McLean

Digital Reporter

Monday, May 7, 2018, 11:50 AM - If you hear a strange alarm go off on your mobile device this week, not to worry. It's just officials testing Canada's emergency alert system.

Publicly branded as Alert Ready, the system is designed to deliver emergency alert messages that warn the public of threat to life situations.

Emergency alerts help ensure Canadians have the critical information they need in emergencies to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves. These emergency alerts have been distributed to Canadians over all licensed radio, television, cable and satellite systems since spring 2015. Since April 6, emergency alerts have been sent to compatible wireless devices on LTE (4G) wireless networks.

Testing will occur on May 7 in Ontario and Quebec, and May 9 for the remainder of the country. The full schedule can be found at alertready.ca.

The Alert Ready system was developed in partnership with federal, provincial, and territorial emergency management officials, Pelmorex Corp., the broadcast industry, and wireless service providers to ensure you receive emergency alerts immediately and know when to take action to keep you and your family safe.

Federal, provincial and territorial government agencies, and some municipal agencies with delegated authority, are capable of sending alerts through this system. Alerts issued by authorized government agencies are validated by Pelmorex’s National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System and disseminated to distributors (e.g. broadcasters and wireless service providers) for mass distribution within a matter of seconds.

Threat to Life Alerts

Alerting authorities determine the alert type, the message content, its duration and geographical areas affected.

The system allows alerting authorities to issue a wide range of public safety messages. However, broadcasters and wireless service providers are only required to distribute emergency alerts for situations that pose an immediate threat to life.

Government officials developed and agreed on a specific list of the types of situations that pose a threat to life and property, for which alerts should be distributed immediately. These emergency alerts have the highest level of severity, urgency and certainty. For a full list of 'broadcast immediately' emergency alerts, visit alertready.ca.

Distributing alerts outside of this list (for example heavy rainfall or blizzard warnings) is at the discretion of each of the broadcasters. Wireless service providers will only receive and relay messages that are issued for threat-to-life situations. In 2014, a regulatory decision made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) mandated all radio and television broadcasters in Canada to broadcast threat-to-life public alerts.

In April 2017, the CRTC mandated wireless service providers to implement Alert Ready on their LTE networks by April 6th, 2018. This decision allows alerting authorities and their partners to provide Canadians with public safety alerts on their compatible wireless devices.

An emergency alert received on compatible wireless device is geo-targeted to the users' area and requires immediate attention. Unlike radio and television broadcasting, which often has broad areas of coverage, wireless public alerting is more narrowly focused to a specific area of coverage. As a result, if an alert reaches a wireless device, there is imminent danger in the area.

Know what alerts sound and look like

All emergency alerts on radio, television and wireless devices begin with a distinct sound (and vibration for wireless devices), known as the Canadian Alert Attention Signal. The sound and vibration conveys a sense of urgency and reinforces the alert message. On compatible wireless devices, the emergency alert will display an "EMERGENCY ALERT/ALERTE D’URGENCE" banner followed by a message that describes the threat-to-life situation and may include a link for more information. At the top of each emergency alert, the alerting authority will be clearly indicated. Broadcasters and wireless service providers will pass on the emergency alert text exactly how it is received from the alerting authority.

Wireless emergency alerts will only be received on compatible wireless devices. Visit the alertready.ca to find out which devices are capable of receiving alerts.

What to do during an emergency

Upon receiving the alert, it is important to take immediate action. Alerting authorities will include, within the emergency alert, the information needed to keep safe. This could include but is not limited to: evacuate the area, limit unnecessary travel, shelter-in-place, etc. If an alert is received while driving, it is important to remain calm and pull over at the earliest opportunity to view the alert.

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