The operator of Canada’s emergency alert system sent a test emergency alert across Ontario Wednesday afternoon.
The alerts being issued by Alert Ready are part of a national test, except in the provinces of Alberta and Nunavut.
Cellphone users, people watching television, and those listening to the radio received the alert at 12:55 p.m. EST.
People were urged to not call 911 after receiving the test alert.
“Using 911 for non-emergency calls could delay help for people experiencing real emergencies,” a statement issued by Alert Ready said.
Governments and government agencies can request alerts be sent through the Alert Ready system in the event of fires, tornadoes, flash floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, tsunamis, storm surges, landslides, magnetic storms, meteorites, biological, chemical or radiological events, drinking water contamination, explosives, air quality, falling object risks, terrorist threats, civil emergencies, animal danger, 911 outages or Amber Alerts.
According to the Alert Ready website, 78 alerts have been issued in Ontario to date in 2020. A large majority of those alerts were for tornadoes.