Don’t be alarmed!
Phones, TVs and radios across British Columbia and the rest of the country will blare one tone in unanimity this this week, as Canada tests its wireless alerting system.
On November 16th, a public test message will be distributed through Alert Ready, Canada’s Public Alerting System, in most provinces or territories over television, radio, and compatible wireless devices.
The only province without a scheduled test is Prince Edward Island.
On November 16th,
Participating provinces and territories will test Alert Ready, Canada’s emergency alerting system over TV, radio, and wireless devices. Find out what time you can expect to receive the test alert👇.https://t.co/nopJww3mt9#AlertReadyTest #EmergencyPreparedness pic.twitter.com/5I2wxwIrrZ— Alert Ready (@AlertReady) November 13, 2022
The system is tested twice per year, the first of which came back in May. The sound will simulate an emergency alert.
In addition, radio and television broadcasters may use an audio version of the test alert message generated through a text-to-speech (TTS) software. The TTS functionality on wireless is managed by the device manufacturer and may be read to the recipient if the device supports this feature.
The message will indicate that it is a test and does not require action from the public. Due to its importance, Canadians do not have the option to opt-out of the the alerts.
So far in 2022, the Alert Ready system has delivered more than 800 public emergency alert messages to Canadians.
