Open this photo in gallery A smartphone and a television receive visual and audio alerts in Montreal. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
The company operating Canada’s new national public alert system for mobile devices said it would investigate after a test of the system misfired in Quebec on Monday and was hit and miss in Ontario.
Shortly after the test was scheduled to reach mobile devices in Ontario, at 1:55 p.m. ET, social media was flooded with messages from people confirming they had received the signal, others who had not and still others who appeared startled or even surprised by it.
“I forgot that we were getting that emergency alert testing on our phones,” wrote one Twitter user, going only by Mary.
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“But I got forcibly reminded, all right. And there is not enough hot chocolate in the world to calm me down right now.”
Another Twitter user, Brent Morris, wrote that some people at his office got the alert on their phones, but he didn’t.
“I guess if the world ends, I’m the last to know,” he quipped.
For those who did receive it the message read, in part, “This is a test of Ontario’s Alert Ready System. There is no danger to your health or safety.”
In Quebec, where the test did not go as planned shortly before 10 a.m., the problem did not originate with cellphone service providers but appears to have occurred between emergency management in the province and Pelmorex Corp., which operates the system, said Patricia Valladao, a spokesperson for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
“The alerts are actually coming from the emergency management in the region and then it goes to Pelmorex,” Valladao said.
In a statement e-mailed to The Canadian Press, Pelmorex blamed the Quebec problem on a computer programming glitch.
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“A space incorrectly included in the coding prevented the Alert Ready System from sending the Quebec test message to compatible wireless devices earlier this morning,” it read, adding the misconfiguration was quickly corrected.
The statement also pointed out the Quebec test “did broadcast successfully on TV and radio.”
In Ontario, the test alerts were also expected to be broadcast across TV and radio airwaves, but in some cases no messages were seen on TV screens.
Pelmorex suggested it would take time to figure out what went wrong in Ontario.
“All Alert Ready partners are working together to identify the cause,” it said in a separate statement.
“We thank everyone for their patience as we investigate and work through the test alert results.”
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Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he expects federal, provincial and private sector experts behind the warning system to learn from Monday’s “serious glitches” and correct the problems quickly.
“That consortium of experts has to learn from this experience and make sure that whatever went wrong today in the coding or in the launch, that all of that is corrected and that we have a system up and running as fast as possible,” Goodale said.
“That’s what a test is for, to determine if the system works. Today, it didn’t. We need to make sure it’s fixed and that it is available to Canadians at the earliest possible moment.”
Depending on settings, users with compatible devices connected to an LTE network were expected to hear a tone similar to an ambulance siren or feel a vibration for eight seconds. Devices that were turned off would not receive the signal but phone users receiving the alerts would have heard their conversations interrupted by a sound similar to a call-waiting tone.
The tests were being conducted after the CRTC ordered wireless providers to implement the system to distribute warnings of imminent safety threats, such as tornadoes, floods, Amber Alerts or terrorist threats.
A similar system is already used in the United States and made headlines earlier this year when an emergency official in Hawaii mistakenly sent an alert about a potential incoming ballistic missile.
A report issued last month by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said the false alarm, which went uncorrected for 38 minutes after being transmitted and caused widespread panic across the Pacific islands state, was a result of human error and inadequate safeguards.
“The CRTC has no insights with respect to what occurred in Hawaii, other than what has been reported in the media,” the regulator said.
But it added that Canada has safeguards in place to prevent false signals from being distributed to mobile devices.
Unlike wireless emergency alerts issued in the United States, Canada’s system requires a specific vibration cadence, alert tone and banner to notify users of an emergency.
As well, the emergency alerts are not text — or SMS — messages, but are distributed using what’s known as cell broadcast technology. The messages can’t be tracked by service providers so they can’t tell who has or has not received the alert, the CRTC said.
Here are the times for tests scheduled for later this week outside Ontario and Quebec. All times are local:
Wednesday:
Yukon 1:30 p.m.
Northwest Territories 1:55 p.m.
Alberta 1:55 p.m.
British-Columbia 1:55 p.m.
Saskatchewan 1:55 p.m.
Manitoba 1:55 p.m.
Newfoundland and Labrador 1:55 p.m.
Nova Scotia 1:55 p.m.
Prince Edward Island 1:55 p.m.
New-Brunswick 6:55 p.m.
A new countrywide emergency public alert system for mobile devices set to debut in Quebec on Monday failed to reach residents, while Ontario also had its problems, said a spokesperson for the CRTC.
The tests are being conducted after the CRTC ordered wireless providers to implement the system to warn of imminent safety concerns such as tornadoes, floods, Amber Alerts or terror threats.
CRTC spokesperson Patricia Valladao said the difficulties in Quebec did not originate with cellphone service providers.
Rather, it appears the problem occurred between emergency management in Quebec and Pelmorex Corp., which operates the system.
Valladao said that in a code sequence that was entered manually by a Pelmorex employee, a space was included incorrectly, which prevented the system from sending the message in Quebec through wireless phones.
Depending on the settings, users with compatible devices — such as smartphones and tablets connected to an LTE network — were supposed to hear a tone similar to an ambulance alarm or feel a vibration for eight seconds starting at 9:55 a.m. ET in Quebec.
But there was nothing but silence.
The test in Ontario was carried out at 1:55 p.m., and while some mobile phone users reported having received an alert, others said their phone didn't make a peep.
Tests in most of the rest of Canada, except for Nunavut, will take place on Wednesday.
System provider working to fix problem
Pelmorex, the system provider in charge of managing the wireless device alerts, is working to correct the problem as soon as possible, said Thomas Blanchet, spokesperson for Quebec's Public Security Ministry.
"That's why we do testing, to make sure that the connection is OK," he said.
Radio and TV stations ran the tests successfully, according Blanchet. By noon, some Quebecers had also received a test alert through either The Weather Network or Météomédia apps.
But Blanchet said those alerts have been in place for app users since 2015, and that Monday's wireless testing is different.
Blanchet said it's unclear whether the alert will be launched again once the problem is fixed, but he stressed the population would be notified if that were to be the case.
Similar system in U.S.
A similar system is already used in the United States and made headlines earlier this year when an emergency official in Hawaii mistakenly sent an alert about a potential incoming ballistic missile.
A report issued last month by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said the false alarm, which went uncorrected for 38 minutes after being transmitted and caused widespread panic across the Pacific islands state, was a result of human error and inadequate safeguards.
The CRTC said Canada has safeguards in place to prevent false signals from being distributed to mobile devices.
Unlike wireless emergency alerts issued in the United States, Canada's system requires a specific vibration cadence, alert tone and banner to notify users of an emergency.
As well, the emergency alerts are not text — or SMS — messages, but are distributed using what's known as cell broadcast technology. The messages can't be tracked by service providers so they can't tell who has or has not received the alert, the CRTC said.
Here are the scheduled times for tests scheduled for later this week outside Ontario and Quebec. All times are local:
Wednesday
Mobile devices across Canada will be buzzing a little more than usual this week as emergency management officials test a new national public alert system.
Test signals were supposed to be sent to millions mobile users in Quebec around mid-morning, but there was already a glitch due to a coding error.
READ MORE: No alerts for cell phone emergency alert system test in Quebec
“A space incorrectly included in the coding prevented the Alert Ready System from sending the Quebec test message to compatible wireless devices,” Pelmorex, who operates the system, said in a statement to Global News.
Pelmorex said the misconfiguration was quickly corrected.
The Ontario test alert at 1:55 p.m. ET also saw some hiccups, with many Twitter users saying they did not get the alerts, while others did. At least one cellphone service provider acknowledged the issue; Pelmorex has yet to offer a statement on the Ontario test’s success.
Cellphones, tablets and other devices will receive the signal in most of the rest of the country on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Nuclear attack warning in Winnipeg was a prank, here’s how to spot fake alerts
Depending on settings, users with compatible devices connected to an LTE network will hear a tone similar to an ambulance alarm or feel a vibration for eight seconds. Devices that are turned off won’t receive the signal but phone users will hear their conversations interrupted by a sound similar to a call waiting tone.
The tests are being conducted after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ordered wireless providers to implement the system to distribute warnings of imminent safety threats such as tornadoes, floods, Amber Alerts or terrorist threats.
Radio and TV stations will also run the tests.
A similar system is already used in the U.S., and made headlines earlier this year when an emergency official in Hawaii mistakenly sent an alert about a potential incoming ballistic missile.
A report issued last month by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said the false alarm, which went uncorrected for 38 minutes after being transmitted and caused widespread panic across the Pacific islands state, was a result of human error and inadequate safeguards.
READ MORE: Accidental ballistic missile alert warning issued to cell phones, TV and radio in Hawaii
“The CRTC has no insights with respect to what occurred in Hawaii, other than what has been reported in the media,” the regulator said.
“But Canada has safeguards in place” to prevent false signals from being distributed to mobile devices, said CRTC spokeswoman Patricia Valladao.
Unlike wireless emergency alerts issued in the U.S., Canada’s system requires a specific vibration cadence, alert tone and banner to notify users of an emergency.
As well, the emergency alerts are not text, or SMS, messages, but are distributed using what’s known as cell broadcast technology. The messages can’t be tracked by service providers so they can’t tell who has or has not received the alert, the CRTC said.
WATCH: How did a ballistic missile alert warning accidentally get sent out in Hawaii?
Some Canadian service providers sent text messages to subscribers last week alerting them to the tests, which are mandatory and may require users to acknowledge a message before they can resume normal use of their devices.
Here are the scheduled times for the tests. All times are local:
Monday
Quebec: 9:55 a.m.
Ontario 1:55 p.m.
Wednesday
Yukon 1:30 p.m.
Northwest Territories 1:55 p.m.
Alberta 1:55 p.m.
British Columbia 1:55 p.m.
Saskatchewan 1:55 p.m.
Manitoba 1:55 p.m.
Newfoundland and Labrador 1:55 p.m.
Nova Scotia 1:55 p.m.
Prince Edward Island 1:55 p.m.
New-Brunswick 6:55 p.m.
— With files from Global News
CTV Montreal
Federal and provincial officials tested the National Public Alerting System in Quebec on Monday morning, but many people never heard a peep.
At 9:55 a.m. cell phones on LTE networks across the province were supposed to buzz or ring with a tone similar to an ambulance alarm.
As that time came and went, though, alerts were spotted on television and heard on radio, but it appears that the cell phone network did not react.
The CRTC said the problem was not with the cellphone network, but was between emergency management systems in Quebec and Pelmorex Corp., which operates the system, said the CRTC's Patricia Valladao.
"The alerts are actually coming from the emergency management in the region and then it goes to Pelmorex," Valladao said.
The alert system is designed to notify the public of imminent disaster or emergency such as a tornado warning, a biological threat of some kind, or the spill of hazardous materials.
"What happened this morning in Quebec, a space was incorrectly included on the coding which prevented the alert ready system in terms of text to the compatible wireless device earlier this morning," said Valladao.
The alert messages are distributed by cell broadcast technology and cannot be tracked.
Ontario tested its system at 1:55 p.m. and it appears to have worked, though some reported on social media that they had no yet received their alerts.
The test alerts were also expected to be broadcast across TV and radio airwaves, but in some cases no messages were seen on TV screens.
Valladao also pointed out that this was the purpose of the test -- and it was not a real emergency.
"That's why we run tests to ensure that all systems are a go and everything's working properly in case of a real emergency. In this one, the misconfiguration was quickly corrected," she said.
Technology expert Carmi Levy agreed that it's not a major concern.
"Well it's not as concerning as we might think, because that's what testing is really supposed to do. It's supposed to find those bugs and know where they are so we can fix them, apparently it was a space in the coding which means probably human error, so someone punched the wrong character in the wrong place," he said.
Depending on settings, users with compatible devices connected to an LTE network were expected to hear a tone similar to an ambulance siren or feel a vibration for eight seconds. Devices that were turned off would not receive the signal but phone users receiving the alerts would have heard their conversations interrupted by a sound similar to a call-waiting tone.
The rest of the country will test the system on Wednesday.
People who are in the midst of a telephone call when the alert sounds will be interrupted with a tone.
Some cell phones will require their users to hit an acknowledgement button before they use their phones.
- With a report from The Canadian Press
