Wireless Public Alerting explained

Alert Ready

is a service designed to deliver critical and potentially life-saving emergency alert messages to Canadians over radio, TV and now wireless smartphones.

The Alert Ready system was developed in partnership with federal, provincial and territorial emergency management officials, Pelmorex Corp., the broadcast industry and wireless service providers including TELUS to ensure you receive emergency alerts immediately and know when to take action to keep you and your family safe.

TELUS and all Canadian wireless service providers are required to broadcast emergency alerts received from alerting authorities directly to consumers’

using Cell Broadcast distribution.

Wireless service providers will only receive and broadcast alerts that are issued for

threat-to-life situations

.

Emergency alerts intended for wireless devices are issued to a defined geographic area, which can be as small as a few city blocks, so that only people in the defined area receive the emergency alerts. The defined area is selected by the alerting authorities. Compatible wireless devices in the targeted area, including devices that are roaming, will receive the emergency alerts within seconds of alert issuance, provided the devices are powered on and connected to the LTE cellular network. If you are travelling outside of Canada to a country that has a functional wireless alerting service, you may receive alerts issued to the geographic location you are in.

: As mandated by the CRTC, you cannot opt out of receiving threat-to-life emergency alerts.

While the alerts may look like text messages, they are not text messages and are not billed like text messages nor do they count towards data usage.

Emergency alerts begin with a distinct sound, known as the

Canadian Alert Attention Signal

and may also cause the device to vibrate.

On compatible wireless devices, the emergency alert will display an banner with information describing the situation, instructions on what actions to take and where to learn more. At the top of each emergency alert, the issuing government agency will be clearly indicated.

As a general rule, emergency alerts will only be issued once. In the event that the issuing government has an update to the original alert, you will receive updated alert messages.

: You will occasionally receive a test alert that allows the government to ensure the system is working as expected. The test alert text will clearly indicate that it is a test alert.

If you are a person with a sight or hearing disability, alternate formats of the emergency alert can be issued. Emergency alerts may be read to the recipient if their device supports this accessibility feature and the vibration feature that accompanies emergency alerts sent to wireless devices will help make hearing impaired aware of alerts. Visit the

accessibility features and mobile devices page

for more information on accessibility features or contact your device manufacturer.

Not all wireless mobile devices offer wireless public alerting compatibility.

As of October 2022, approximately 96.5% of the LTE devices connected to the TELUS networks are capable of receiving wireless emergency alerts. For a device to receive WPA alerts the following conditions need to be met:

The following devices have been tested and certified by TELUS for emergency alerting compatibility.

A50, One, Go Flip, Pixi 4, Pixi 5, U50, 3T8, 1B

iPhone SE, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple Watch 3, Apple Watch 4, Apple Watch 5, Apple Watch 6, Apple Watch SE, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPad Pro 11 (3rd Gen), iPad Pro 11 (3rd Gen), iPad Pro 12.9 (5th Gen), iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad (9th Gen), iPad mini 6, Watch Series 7, iPad Air (5th Gen), iPhone SE (3rd Gen), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, Watch Series 8, Watch SE (2nd Gen), Watch Ultra Requires iOS version 11.3 or newer for WPA support.

DTEK50, Keyone, KEY2, KEY2 LE, Motion, Priv

Essential Phone

Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 5, Pixel XL, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6A

Nexus 6P, P20, P20 Pro, Mate 20 Pro, P30, P30 Pro

G5, G6, G7 One, G7 ThinQ, G8X, Nexus 5X, V30, V60 ThinQ 5G, K9, K20, K30, K31, K32, K41S, K61, Q6, Q60, Q70, Q Stylo+, X Power 2, X Power 3, Velvet

Moto G Play, Moto G7 Play, Nexus 6, Moto X Play, Moto Z, Moto Z Play, Moto E6, One Vision, Razr, Edge+, Moto E, G Fast, One Hyper, One 5G Ace, G Power, G Pure, G Power, G 5G, G Stylus 5G

Galaxy A5, Galaxy A8, Galaxy A10e, Galaxy A20, Galaxy A50, Galaxy A70, Galaxy A71, Galaxy J1, Galaxy J3, Galaxy J3 Prime, Galaxy J3 Top, Galaxy Note5, Galaxy Note8, Galaxy Note9, Galaxy Note10, Galaxy Note10+, Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy Note20 5G, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S20 5G, Galaxy S20 FE 5G, Galaxy S20+ 5G, Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy XCover 4, Galaxy xCoverPro, Galaxy Watch S4, Galaxy Watch S4 Small, Galaxy Watch Active 2, Galaxy Watch Active 2 Small, Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Tab A 8, Galaxy Tab A 10.5, Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, Galaxy Z Flip 5G, A32, A52, A12, Tab A7 Lite, Z Flip3, Z Fold3, Galaxy Watch4 40mm, Galaxy Watch4 44mm, Galaxy Watch4 Classic 42mm, Galaxy Watch4 Classic 46mm, GS21 FE, A13, A03s, GS22, GS22+, GS22 Ultra, A53, Z Flip4, Z Fold4, Watch5 40mm, Watch5 44mm, Watch5 Pro, XCover6 Pro

XP3800, XP5800, XP8800, XP3plus

20S, 20 Pro 5G, Flip, 30 XE 5G, 30 5G

Snap

FZ-N1

TC56, TC75

Grand X View 4, ZPAD10, Blade A3 Plus, Blade A7P, Cymbal 2