Don't be alarmed when you hear piercing sound coming out of your phone on Wednesday afternoon.
A countrywide test of the Alert Ready System will be conducted on November 28 at 1:55 p.m. Eastern time. Phones will either produce a beeping sound or buzz for eight seconds during the testing.
Alert Ready is Canada's official emergency alert system and runs through television, radio, and mobile devices. In the case of real emergencies, a message would be sent out for imminent threats, including fires, tornadoes, floods, water contamination and Amber Alerts.
After the inaugural test was conducted in May of this year, many Ontarians said their phone did not receive the alert.
On its website, Alert Ready said the error was due to compatibility issues with certain phones but said that these tests are vital to working out any kinks in the system before an actual emergency occurs. According to the CRTC, at the time of the original test, only 50 per cent of new phones being sold in Canada were compatible with testing, but their goal is to have all phones be compatible by April 2019.
You can visit the Alert Ready website to find out more about testing and to check if your phone is compatible.
