Alert Ready system to be tested across Canada for second time

Thestar.com
November 28, 2018
The Canadian Press

Most Canadians can expect their mobile phones, televisions and radios to sound off today as the Alert Ready system undergoes a second round of testing.

Provincial emergency management organizations will conduct simultaneous public alerting tests across the country in a bid to make sure people receive emergency alerts and can take action to stay safe.

A smartphone and a television receive visual and audio alerts to test Alert Ready, a national public alert system.

Test alerts are supposed to appear on updated and compatible mobile devices connected to an LTE wireless network at 1:55 p.m. local time, with the exception of Quebec where the test will be done an hour later.

This second test comes after Manitoba Infrastructure’s Emergency Measures Organizations said only 60 per cent of wireless users received an alert in a test of the system in May.

The first test didn’t sound at all in Quebec due to a coding error, which the system operator said was fixed within a couple of hours.

In Ontario, some test alerts were heard and felt on mobile devices, but many wireless subscribers didn’t receive any signals.

The CRTC requires 50 per cent of wireless devices sold in Canada to be compatible with Alert Ready, but the coverage rate should increase after April when compatibility will be a requirement in all devices for sale.