Emergency alert system to be tested in Atlantic Canada Wednesday

A smartphone and a television receive visual and audio alerts to test Alert Ready, a national public alert system in Montreal, Monday, May 7, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Atlantic Canadians may receive an alert on their smartphones, radios and televisions Wednesday as part of a test for Canada's national public alerting system.

Alert Ready was designed to deliver critical and potentially life-saving alerts.

According to Alert Ready's online testing schedule, the tests will be conducted at the following times in Atlantic Canada:

• Newfoundland and Labrador – 10:45 a.m. NST
• New Brunswick – 10:55 a.m. AST
• Prince Edward Island – 12:55 p.m. AST
• Nova Scotia – 1:55 p.m. AST

The test will start with an audible alarm, followed by a message that appears on a red background on televisions or broadcast by radio – first in French and then in English.

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That message will state:

“This is a test of the National Public Alerting System by the Government of Canada. No action is required. If this was an actual emergency, you would now have instructions for protecting yourself and your family. For more information please visit the Alert Ready website.”

Compatible wireless devices will vibrate and the alert sound will play. A text in both official languages will also state that it is only a test.

Alert Ready was developed in partnership with federal, provincial and territorial emergency management officials, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the broadcast industry to enhance emergency preparedness and response in times of crisis.

Alerts are broadcast for several different reasons, including fire, hazardous and environmental threats, a civil emergency, an Amber Alert for missing children, and natural disasters such as a tornado, earthquake, flash flooding or a hurricane.