Keep an eye on your phones, Victoria!
At 1:55 p.m. today, November 28th, Canada will be testing its nationwide emergency alert system.
The Alert Ready system will broadcast on all TVs, radios, and compatible LTE wireless devices.
To receive the test alert, devices must be connected to an LTE wireless network (commonly known as “4G LTE”) and be updated with the wireless service provider’s latest software.
If your mobile device meets these requirements but does not receive the alert, you can contact your service provider.
“The key to emergency alerting is to reach as many people on as many communication platforms as possible,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General in a news release.
“The addition of emergency alerts on wireless devices is another valuable way to reach out to the public in an emergency. These alerts will be issued alongside routine television and radio tests as an added complement to these and other emergency alerting mediums already in use.”
The system can issue warnings for a variety of emergencies, like fires, natural disasters, biological/chemical/radiological hazards, terrorist threats, civil emergencies, and more.
For more information on Alert Ready and the upcoming text, look here.
Hopefully this national test goes better than B.C.’s trial in May, when over half of the province’s cell phones did not receive the warning.
But don’t worry, our provincial alert system has since been updated.
