Canada will be testing a public emergency alert system this week, and if you're at all jumpy, you'll want to be prepared.
A test of Alert Ready, the country's national public alerting system, will take place on November 15, 2023, and most provinces and territories in Canada will receive an alert on their televisions, radios and wireless devices.
For those who don't know, Alert Ready delivers critical and potentially life-saving alerts to residents that are issued through television, radio and wireless devices like cell phones so that Canadians know when to take action to stay safe.
Alerts could be issued to warn Canadians of natural disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes and wildfires, or for things like boil-water advisories and Amber Alerts.
According to a news release, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecom requires that wireless service providers and broadcasters send out at least one test alert per year, but participating in the test alert is at the discretion of each provincial and territorial emergency management organization.
For the test, Canadians in certain provinces and territories will receive one test alert message from their provincial or territorial emergency management organization at a specific time on Wednesday.
Here are the provinces and territories that will be receiving an alert on November 15 and when:
- British Columbia - 1:55 p.m. PST
- Manitoba- 1:55 p.m. CST
- New Brunswick - 10:55 a.m. AST
- Nova Scotia - 1:55 p.m. AST
- Newfoundland and Labrador - 10:55 a.m. NST
- Nunavut - 2 p.m. EST
- Ontario - 12:55 p.m. EST
- Prince Edward Island - 12:55 p.m. AST
- Quebec 1:55 p.m. EST
- Saskatchewan - 1:55 p.m. CST
- Yukon - 1:55 p.m. MST
The test message will simulate an emergency alert, beginning by playing Canada's alert tone, formally known as the Canadian Alert Attention Signal, which you can hear online. A message will be issued along with the alert tone indicating that it is a test and that no further action is required from the public.
The test alert will be distributed on TV, radio and wireless devices across the country. However, not all Canadians will necessarily receive the test alert on their mobile device, due to factors like connection to an LTE network, cell tower coverage and device software and settings.
You can check the compatibility of your phone to see if you'll receive the alert.
It's worth noting that Canadians don't have the option to opt out of receiving Alert Ready broadcasts on their devices, but you can at least prepare yourself for when it goes off.
In the past, residents have gotten pretty spooked by the alarm sound going off on their devices, so if you're generally pretty easily frightened, you may want to note when the test will begin in your province or territory.
Alert Ready is also reminding Canadians that they don't need to dial 9-1-1, as has happened in previous tests.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
