National emergency alert system tested Wednesday in much of Canada

Canada’s national emergency alert system, Alert Ready, conducted a test on Wednesday that included all provinces and territories, with the exception of Alberta and Quebec.

Public test messages from the emergency alerting system was sent to all TV and radio stations, as well as wireless devices.

In Ontario, the test occurred at 12:55 p.m. ET. The test times vary for the rest of Canada.

The testing sound simulates an emergency alert, beginning with the alert tone. The message indicates that it is a test and does not require action.

These tests are usually conducted twice a year, in May and in November. Alberta and Quebec don’t have a test scheduled in May.

Canadians do not have the option to opt out of the test or actual alerts.

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RELATED: What’s Ontario’s criteria for issuing an Amber Alert and how does the system work?

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Emergency alerts are issued for kidnappings (Amber Alerts) and other policing-related situations, as well as in the event of biological threats, hazardous materials, air quality, falling objects, severe weather, national security, civil emergencies, animal danger and 911 outages.

In Ontario, the provincial government also classifies these events as emergencies.

With files from Nick Westoll of CityNews, and The Canadian Press