Alert Ready: emergency alerting system

What is Alert Ready?

Alert Ready is the public branding of the National Public Alerting System (NPAS) designed to deliver critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians through television, radio and other media and on wireless devices.

How does Alert Ready work?

The Alert Ready system was developed by federal, provincial and territorial emergency management officials, broadcasters, and wireless service providers to ensure that you receive alerts immediately and know when to take action to keep yourself and your family safe.

What types of alerts are issued through Alert Ready?

Government officials developed a specific list of the types of alerts for events that are considered a threat to life and should be "broadcast immediately." Environment and Climate Change Canada issues “broadcast immediate” alerts for:

• all tornado warnings;
• severe thunderstorm warnings that meet the following criteria:
  • wind gusts of 130 km/h or greater;
  • baseball or greater sized hail (7cm).

Why is it important?

Public authorities use Alert Ready to inform their audiences about alerts issued for hazardous and life threatening events. The system also helps to ensure that more Canadians know about severe weather alerts from Environment and Climate Change Canada and can make choices about their safety.

What should I do when I hear a severe weather alert?

Be on the lookout for severe weather in your area. Take shelter if threatening weather is approaching.

Who is involved with Alert Ready?

This system was developed in collaboration with many partners:

• Public Safety Canada, the lead Government of Canada organization for coordinating across all federal departments and agencies responsible for national security and the safety of Canadians;
• Federal, provincial and territorial emergency management officials who are responsible for public alerting;
• Environment and Climate Change Canada, the official source for weather alerts and warnings in Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada is the organization that issues the largest number of alerts to the public and hence will be the most frequent supplier of alerts to the Alert Ready system;
• Pelmorex, owners of Weather Network/Météomédia, runs the core infrastructure through which all emergency alert messages are collected and passed through to broadcasters and wireless service providers;
• Television and radio broadcasters, who have implemented systems to air alert messages for life-threatening situations by interrupting scheduled programming.
• Wireless service providers, who have implemented systems to disseminate alerts for life-threatening situations by displaying the alert message and by issuing the alert tone.