Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada has released an emergency notification app, expanding the National Public Alerting System (NPAS) to include smartphones and other such wireless devices.

Alert Ready will provide emergency notification to Canadians about potential hazards, such as flash flooding and water contamination. Providing an informative and reliable public alerting system in Canada is a responsibility shared by all levels of government and industry partners.

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As such, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale applauded the collaborative work of federal, provincial and territorial governments, wireless services providers, and other industry partners to expand the National Public Alerting System to include wireless emergency alerts.

“When an emergency occurs, Canadians need to know right away. By adding smartphones to our emergency alert system, we will be able to reach more Canadians, faster, in times of crisis. Wireless alerts will also allow us to issue more geographically targeted alerts,” said Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. “The safety of Canadians is our highest priority, and I’m proud that we’ve worked with all partners to make this capability a reality.”

NPAS, publicly branded as Alert Ready, is a collaborative initiative between Federal-Provincial-Territorial governments and industry partners. It provides a standard alerting capability to rapidly warn the public of imminent or unfolding hazards to life. A complete list of alerts that could be issued is available on the Alert Ready website.

“For many years, the CRTC has been ensuring that the communication system better protects Canadians and allows them to get the help they need during an emergency. The distribution of alert messages on mobile devices is an important evolution of the National Public Alerting System,” said Ian Scott, chair, Canada Radio-television Telecommunications Commission.

Alerting authorities will begin to issue wireless alerts as each government builds the capacity to do so.

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