There will be an all-out test of Canada’s public emergency alert system here in Manitoba Wednesday as part of Emergency Preparedness Week.
The test will be conducted on radio and TV stations as well as any mobile device connected to an LTE network. The system, known as Alert Ready, has been in place since 2014. Mobile devices were added to the Alert Ready network just over a month ago, when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission told wireless providers to implement the warning distribution system on their networks.
The message, which may also include a vibration on your mobile device, will be sent using cell broadcast technology, and will not be a regular text message. Because of this, there will be no charges associated with the message.
The test will take place on Wednesday May 9th at 1:55pm here in Manitoba, and the C.R.T.C. says that some people may be required to acknowledge the message before they can go back to using their mobile device normally.
Alert Ready is the public branding of the National Public Alerting System, which has been designed to deliver what could be live-saving alerts specific to your location. Alert Ready was developed through a collaboration of partners that include Public Safety Canada, Environment Canada, television and radio broadcasters as well as wireless service providers.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the core infrastructure of the Alert Ready system is run by the parent company of the Weather Network, Pelmorex.
More information on the Alert Ready system can be found here on the Government oc Canada website, or on the Alert Ready site.
Photo courtesy of LifeWire
