What You Can Anticipate During Emergency Alert Tests on May 8th

If an emergency alert sounds on your cell phone May 8, don’t panic.

The federal government is conducting a test of its national alert system as part of Emergency Preparedness Week. The system, known as Alert Ready, provides alerts about potentially dangerous or important events such as earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes, terror threats, and Amber alerts.

Canada’s National Public Alerting System (NPAS) is running tests on television, radio, and all compatible wireless devices in various provinces and territories shortly before 2 p.m. EST.

Canadians in certain provinces and territories will receive a test message from their respective province or territory. Ontarians can expect the test on May 15.

“Regular testing and evaluation of the NPAS is necessary to ensure that, when an emergency occurs, the Government of Canada is prepared to deliver urgent warnings to the public,” said Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan.

The test alert will simulate the tone of an emergency alert. Radio and television broadcasters may also use an audio version of the test alert message through text-to-speech software.

For your wireless phone to receive the alert, it needs to be connected to an LTE network or a 5G wireless network when the emergency alert is issued. Cell phones set to silent will display an emergency alert on screen but will not play the alert tone. The alert will show up on-screen as a test.

Canadians do not have the option to opt out of the test or actual emergency alerts distributed through Alert Ready.

“The Alert Ready system is a critical service that helps keep Canadians safe,” said Pelmorex Public Alerting director Martin Belanger. “Testing provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the system and to validate that it works as intended in case of an actual emergency.”

The Alert Ready system was developed by various government officials, organizations, and service providers.