OTTAWA — The next test of the national Alert Ready emergency alert system will take place Wednesday afternoon.
In Ontario, the test will happen at 2:55 p.m. EST.
Alert Ready is designed to distribute critical and potentially life-saving emergency messages to Canadians over TV, radio and Wireless Public Alert-compatible wireless devices connected to an LTE network.
Wireless service providers such as Tbaytel are required to distribute all alerts.
As of April 6, 2019, all new phones sold by Canadian wireless service providers must be WPA-compatible.
Since Jan. 1, 2019, more than 125 emergency alerts have been transmitted successfully and have been credited with saving lives, as well as apprehending suspects in the case of AMBER Alerts.
Robert Ghiz, CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, said today's test will help emergency management partners evaluate and improve their current processes.
