Police forces in multiple provinces reported issues with 911 services early Thursday. Officers in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia say service has been restored in some areas but advise residents to use the station’s non-emergency numbers or Wi-fi calling in the event of an emergency. Quebec and Nova Scotia have attributed the outages to technical issues and carrier network problems. The cause of the outage in Ontario is not yet known. Ontario Officers in Toronto said the 911 emergency line was unable to receive calls at one point, but posted on social media at 6:20 a.m. local time that service was being restored. The Ontario Provincial Police similarly warned of “intermittent 911 outages” in parts of the province, as did municipal forces in areas including Durham Region and Kingston. By about 6 a.m., most police services confirmed that their lines are back up and running, including Peel, York and Durham. For other regions where service has not yet been restored, residents are urged to contact non-emergency lines to access emergency services. It is unclear what led to the outage. Quebec The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and some local forces in the province issued similar warnings early Thursday. Montreal police (SPVM) confirmed that it was also affected by the outage, but noted its service was operational as of 4:45 a.m. local time. Other municipal forces like the Quebec City police and the Thérèse-De Blainville police confirmed the same. Provincial police attributed the outage to a “technical issue” affecting the transfer of certain calls, according to a statement on social media. On social media, police forces urged the public to call non-emergency phone lines to report an emergency. Nova Scotia Residents of Nova Scotia woke up to an advisory of “intermittent 9-1-1 service outages across Canada,” and were told to try a landline or Wi-Fi calling in the event of an emergency. “For emergencies, seek immediate assistance from emergency personnel or the nearest police, fire, or medical facility if 9-1-1 is unavailable,” the advisory added. Truro Police said people can contact their 24-hour dispatch centre directly at 902-895-5351. Police in Saint John, N.B., also said some cellphone users may be unable to connect to 911. The province says the issue may be related to telecommunications carrier networks. This is a developing news story and will be updated. Check back for more information.
