Advertisement

Test emergency alert to be sent out across almost all of Canada on Wednesday

Residents across the country will receive a test alert from Canada's Alert Ready system on Wednesday May, 8, 2019. Getty Images

Residents in most of the country’s provinces and territories will receive an audible alarm on their compatible cell phone, television or radio on Wednesday, as Canada’s Alert Ready system performs a test.

According to the Alert Ready website, the system provides “critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians,” about situations considered a “threat-to-life.”

System operators are mandated to conduct nationwide testing of the service twice annually, blasting out distinctive electronic tones to LTE-enabled wireless devices that have their speakers turned on, and through television and radio.

“While more than 120 emergency alerts have been successfully transmitted to Canadians over television, radio and wireless devices since April 2018, having regular tests allows us to better educate Canadians about Alert Ready and provide an opportunity to validate and improve the end to end performance and reliability of the system,” Martin Belanger, Director of Public Alerting at Pelmorex and operator of the technical infrastructure of Alert Ready, said in a news release.

Story continues below advertisement

WATCH: National emergency alert system test run (May, 2018)

Click to play video: 'National emergency alert system test run'
National emergency alert system test run

Alerts are issued by government agencies and notify residents of a number of threats including fires, natural disasters, biological or chemical emergencies, environmental emergencies, terrorist threats or civil emergencies, including Amber Alerts or animal danger.

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Test alerts demonstrate what an emergency alert will look and sound like in the event of a life-threatening situation.

Here is a schedule of when you can expect to receive the alert:

  • Alberta 1:55 p.m. MDT.
  • British Columbia 1:55 p.m. PDT.
  • Manitoba 1:55 p.m. CDT
  • New Brunswick 10:55 a.m. ADT
  • Newfoundland & Labrador 10:55 a.m. NDT, 10:25 a.m. ADT in Labrador
  • Northwest Territories 1:55 p.m. MDT
  • Nova Scotia 1:55 p.m. ADT
  • Nunavut 1:55 p.m. EDT
  • Prince Edward Island 12:55 p.m. ADT
  • Saskatchewan 1:55 p.m. CST
  • Yukon 1:55 p.m. PDT
Story continues below advertisement

Public Safety Canada says it received notifications last week from Ontario and Quebec that the provinces would be opting out of the testing because neither wants to send unnecessary alert tones to residents dealing with historic flooding.

Sponsored content

AdChoices