– by Amol Malik
Canadians will get an emergency alert today at 1:55 p.m. local time, except for Quebec, where it is tested an hour later.
It is an unpleasant sound, probably sounds like most of the alarms. The emergency alert system test will be heard today on the radio, television, and/or phone
Provincial emergency management organizations are testing this emergency alert system to simultaneously alert the public, to make sure everyone gets the alert and take appropriate action for safety.
Test alerts are supposed to appear on updated and compatible mobile devices connected to an LTE wireless network.
The test aims to familiarize the public with receiving mobile messages for emergencies like amber alerts or tornado warnings.
It will last approximately 50 seconds, but can run up to 2 minutes. Mobile devices turned off during the test period will not receive an alert.
To confirm whether a mobile device is set up to receive Alert Ready messages, mobile subscribers are encouraged to contact their service providers.
This is the second emergency test after the first that was conducted in Manitoba Infrastructure’s Emergency Measures Organizations said only 60 per cent of wireless users received an alert in a test of the system on May 7 in Ontario and Quebec. The rest of the country, except Nunavut, received test alerts on May 9.
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.
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