Emergency Preparedness Week is taking place May 5 to 11 in Canada. Read the article below to learn how to protect yourself, your family and your community during an emergency.

Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is an opportunity for you to take action to ensure you are prepared to protect yourself, your family and your community during an emergency.

This year EP Week is taking place from May 5 to 11, 2024 with the theme of Be Prepared. Know Your Risks. Everyone has a role to play in being prepared for an emergency, that’s why it’s important to understand the risks in your area and learn what actions you can take to protect yourself and your family.

Take a look at the list below to learn how you can best prepare for these different types of emergencies.

Wildfires

In Canada, wildfires or forest fires are common in forested and grassland regions from May to September, which can cause extensive damage and put lives in danger. Follow the links below to learn what to do before, during and after a wildfire occurs in your area.

Before a wildfire: Be sure to protect your home, educate your household and prepare yourself in the event of a wildfire.

During a wildfire: Find out what to do and not to do if a wildfire is approaching your region.

After a wildfire: Stay calm and assess the situation. Remember that you may encounter dangerous situations like downed power lines.

• Read the latest news and tips on what to do if a wildfire ignites near your area
• Watch this video about how to plan for floods, severe storms and wildfires

Floods

Floods are the most frequent natural hazard in Canada. They can occur at any time of the year and are most often caused by heavy rainfall, rapid melting of a thick snow pack, ice jams, or more rarely, the failure of a natural or man-made dam. Follow the links below to learn what to do before, during and after a flood occurs in your area.

Before a flood: Be sure to protect your home, educate your household and prepare yourself in the event of a flood.

During a flood: Find out what to do and not to do if a flood is approaching your region.

After a flood: Restore your home to good order as soon as possible to protect your health and prevent further damage to the house and its contents.

• Read stories from The Weather Network on how to prepare for emergencies
• Read stories from MétéoMédia on how to prepare for emergencies

Extreme Cold

Spending time outdoors in the winter season is good for your health, and can be a lot of fun. But you need to be aware and prepared for Canada’s cold and severe winter weather. In an average year, more Canadians die from exposure to winter cold than from lightning, wind storms and tornadoes combined.

When severe winter weather threatens, our The Weather Network team issues special alerts that notify Canadians in affected areas so that they can take steps to protect themselves and their property from harm.

Reduce your risk of windburn, frostbite and hypothermia by:

• Wearing appropriate clothing
• Paying attention to weather alerts in your area
• Finding shelter and stay moving
• Winterizing your home
• Avoiding alcohol

Earthquakes

In Canada, the coast of British Columbia is the region most at risk from a major earthquake. Other areas prone to earthquakes are the St. Lawrence and Ottawa River valleys, as well as parts of the three northern territories. Follow the links below to learn what to do before, during and after an earthquake occurs in your area.

• Before an earthquake
• During an earthquake
• After an earthquake

Alert Ready Test

As part of EP Week, Alert Ready will be distributing a test alert to Canadians in participating provinces and territories on their television, radio and compatible wireless devices on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Alert Ready is designed to deliver critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians, including but not limited to tornadoes, flooding, fires and AMBER alerts.

Why is there a test of the Alert Ready System?

Regular testing provides public safety officials with an opportunity to validate and improve the effectiveness and reliability of Alert Ready. Tests ensure that the Alert Ready system operates as intended during an imminent life-threatening situation. Issuing a test alert is at the sole discretion of each provincial and territorial emergency management organization (EMO), however, they are required by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to perform one test alert per year either in May or November.

Who issues alerts via Alert Ready?

Provincial, territorial and federal public safety authorities are responsible for issuing alerts, however, there is a multi-step process in delivering these alerts to the Canadian public. Each stakeholder plays a unique and vital role in the Alert Ready process.

Find out what time you can expect the test alert to happen in your area in the table below:

The Alert Ready system can help keep you safe. Check the compatibility of your device, to ensure you receive alerts, here.

About Emergency Preparedness Week

Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is a national event supported by Public Safety Canada, working closely with provincial and territorial emergency management organizations, Indigenous organizations, non-governmental organizations and private sector organizations who support activities at the local level. An annual event for over 25 years, it traditionally takes place during the first full week of May.

About Alert Ready

Alert Ready is Canada’s emergency alerting system. Alert Ready delivers critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians through television, radio, and LTE-connected and compatible wireless devices. The Alert Ready system was developed with many partners, including federal, provincial, and territorial emergency management officials, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Pelmorex, the broadcasting industry, and wireless service providers. Together, these partners work to ensure Canadians receive alerts immediately and know when to take action to stay safe.

Canadians in participating provinces and territories can expect a test alert on their television, radio, and compatible wireless devices during Emergency Preparedness Week

Oakville, Ontario, May 9, 2023 –  A test of Alert Ready, Canada’s National Public Alerting System, will take place on May 10, 2023, across most provinces and territories. Canadians in participating provinces and territories will receive one test message from their respective provincial or territorial emergency management organization over television, radio, and compatible wireless devices at the times indicated below.

PROVINCE/TERRITORY	LOCAL TESTING TIME
Alberta	No Test
British Columbia	1:55 PM PDT
Manitoba	1:55 PM CDT
New Brunswick	10:55 AM ADT
Northwest Territories	9:55 AM MDT
Nova Scotia	1:55 PM ADT
Newfoundland and Labrador	10:55 AM NDT
Nunavut	2:00 PM EDT
Ontario	12:55 PM EDT
Prince Edward Island	12:55 PM ADT
Quebec	No Test
Saskatchewan	1:55 PM CST
Yukon	1:55 PM MST

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecom (CRTC) requires wireless service providers and broadcasters to send at least one test alert per year, either in May during Emergency Preparedness Week and/or in November. Participation in the testing of Alert Ready is at the sole discretion of each provincial and territorial emergency management organization (EMO). 

The test message will simulate an emergency alert, beginning with the alert tone, known as the Canadian Alert Attention Signal. The message will indicate that it is a test and does not require action from the public. 

Testing of the Alert Ready system provides the opportunity to:

• Increase public awareness about the system and spark emergency preparedness conversations, so that Canadians can be ready and prepared in the event of an actual emergency.
• Validate the effectiveness and reliability of the system to ensure it operates as intended from end to end.
• Provides an opportunity for Emergency Management officials to practice sending alerts to the public.

Alert Ready was developed in collaboration with federal, provincial, and territorial government agencies, Pelmorex, the broadcasting industry and wireless service providers. Each stakeholder has a unique and important role to play in the Alert Ready process.

Given the importance of warning Canadians of imminent threat to the safety of life and property, Canadians do not have the option to opt-out of this essential life-saving service. In 2022, the Alert Ready system delivered more than 820 public emergency alert messages to Canadians.  A breakdown of alert types that were issued by province and territory can be found here.

For ongoing updates about the test, follow the official Alert Ready Twitter page

To arrange an interview about the Alert Ready test, please contact:

Primary contact:

Ryan McKenna, FleishmanHillard HighRoad

ryan.mckenna@fhhighroad.com

About Alert Ready

Alert Ready is Canada’s emergency alerting system. Alert Ready delivers critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians through television, radio and LTE-connected and compatible wireless devices. The Alert Ready system was developed with many partners, including federal, provincial and territorial emergency management officials, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Pelmorex, the broadcasting industry and wireless service providers. Together, these partners work to ensure Canadians receive alerts immediately and know when to take action to stay safe.To learn more, visit alertready.ca and follow us on Twitter.

Canadians in participating provinces and territories can expect a test alert on their television, radio, and compatible wireless devices during Emergency Preparedness Week

Oakville, Ontario, May 2, 2022 – Alert Ready will broadcast a public test of the National Public Alerting System on May 4, 2022, across most provinces and territories. Canadians will receive one test message from their respective provincial or territorial emergency management organization over television, radio, and compatible wireless devices at the times indicated below.

PROVINCE/TERRITORY	LOCAL TESTING TIME
Alberta	1:55 PM MDT
British Columbia	1:55 PM PDT
Manitoba	No Test Scheduled
New Brunswick	10:55 AM ADT
Newfoundland & Labrador	10:55 AM NDT
Northwest Territories	9:55 AM MDT
Nova Scotia	No Test Scheduled
Nunavut	2:00 PM EDT
Ontario	No Test Scheduled
Prince Edward Island	12:55 PM ADT
Quebec	No Test Scheduled
Saskatchewan	1:55 PM CST
Yukon	1:55 PM PDT

The test message will simulate an emergency alert, beginning with the alert tone, known as the Canadian Alert Attention Signal. The message will indicate that it is a test and does not require action from the public. Testing the system provides an opportunity to validate its effectiveness and reliability to ensure it operates as intended from end to end as each stakeholder has a unique and important role to play in the Alert Ready process.

Given the importance of warning Canadians of imminent threat to the safety of life or property, Canadians do not have an option to opt-out of the test or actual emergency alerts distributed through Alert Ready. In 2021, the Alert Ready system enabled authorities responsible for public safety to deliver 173 public emergency alerts to Canadians. A breakdown of alert types that were issued by province and territory can be found here.

For ongoing updates about the test, follow the official Alert Ready Twitter page here.

Canada’s public alerting system, Alert Ready, will distribute Test Alerts on television, radio and compatible wireless devices in most provinces and territories during Emergency Preparedness Week

OAKVILLE, ON, May 4, 2021– On May 5, 2021, Alert Ready will distribute a public test message, across most provinces and territories. Each participating provincial and territorial emergency management organization will issue one test message over television, radio and compatible wireless devices at the times indicated below.

Alert Ready Test Times – May 5, 2021 by Province/Territory

Province/Territory	Test Time
Alberta	No Test Scheduled
British Columbia	1:55 PM PDT
Manitoba	1:55 PM CDT
New Brunswick	10:55 AM ADT
Newfoundland & Labrador	10:55 AM NDT
Northwest Territories	No Test Scheduled
Nova Scotia	No Test Scheduled
Nunavut	No Test Scheduled
Ontario	No Test Scheduled
Prince Edward Island	12:55 PM ADT
Quebec	No Test Scheduled
Saskatchewan	1:55 PM CST
Yukon	1:55 PM PDT

Alert Ready was developed in collaboration with federal, provincial, and territorial government agencies, Pelmorex, the broadcasting industry and wireless service providers. Testing of the system provides an opportunity to:

• Educate the public by demonstrating what an emergency alert will look and sound like in the event of a life-threatening situation.
• Validate the performance and reliability of the system to ensure it operates as it is intended from end to end as each stakeholder has a unique and important role to play in the Alert Ready process.

While Alert Ready may be most known in some provinces for the distribution of AMBER Alerts to the public, it is also designed to deliver other critical and potentially lifesaving, including but not limited to tornado, flooding, fire, and civil emergency warnings. A comprehensive list of alert types can be found here.

“In 2020, the Alert Ready System enabled government authorities to deliver 180 emergency alerts, with 21 emergency alerts issued so far in 2021 to Canadians,” says Martin Belanger, Director of Public Alerting at Pelmorex. “Pelmorex receives alerts from authorized alert issuers and makes those alerts available to alert distributors which include television, radio, satellite, cable and wireless service providers.”

Given the importance of warning Canadians of imminent threat to the safety of life and property, Canadians do not have the option to opt out of this essential life-saving service.

A radiological hazard alert for Pickering Ontario was issued on January 12th at 7:23 AM ET by the Province of Ontario’s Emergency Operations Centre through the Alert Ready system.

There is no active nuclear situation taking place at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. There is no danger to the public or environment and no further action is required.

As a result, another alert was issued at 9:11 AM ET by the Province of Ontario to indicate the initial alert was issued in error.

It is at the sole discretion of the authorized government issuer, in this case, the Province of Ontario, to determine when an alert is issued, the content of the alert and the geographical area that is to receive the alert.

We are working with the Province of Ontario to determine why this alert was distributed to the public.