Don't be alarmed if you hear an alert on your radio, TV, or cell phone Wednesday afternoon.
Alert Ready, which operates the nationwide alert system, will conduct a nationwide test at 12:55 p.m. Eastern time. The test will cover the entire country, except for Nunavut and Alberta.
The alert system is responsible for relaying emergency messages in times of weather emergencies and other crises, breaking into broadcasts on television and radio, and flashing alerts as text messages on smartphones and other personal devices.
People are being urged not to call 911 to get information about Wednesday's test or complain about the alert when it happens. Since the system's inception two years ago, law-enforcement dispatch centres were periodically flooded with calls from angry residents upset about the alert.
A total of 173 alert messages were relayed across Canada since 2018. In Ontario, there were 73 messages. Sixty of them were tornado warnings, nine were civil emergencies, five were Amber Alerts, and there were two each for wildlife issues and radiological hazards.
Alert Ready has contracted a third-party partner to conduct a short survey about the test. If you would like to participate once the test is over, it can be accessed on the Alert Ready website.