Why does B.C. keep hesitating to use emergency text alerts during disasters?

Despite a change allowing the Alert Ready system to be used for flooding, none were sent as hundreds were ordered to flee in Abbotsford.

When floodwaters swamped Abbotsford once again last week, it brought back terrible memories for residents who’d survived the cleanup and rebuild after catastrophic flooding in 2021.

But there was another unpleasant repeat that hasn’t had much attention in the scramble to preserve livestock, homes and livelihoods: the failure to use the AlertReady emergency text system.

On the surface, it’s a matter of “no one asked for it, so there was no text,” but the real reason isn’t so simple.

In recent years, multiple municipal executives and mayors have told CTV News that since the emergency management ministry is responsible for sending alerts, they assume the province makes the call to send them. In fact, the provincial policy is that they’ll send it – only if local officials make the request.

Compared to other provinces and territories, British Columbia still rarely uses the system despite many natural disasters and hazards, even though officials have repeatedly discussed doing more to integrate it into their emergency response plans. There have been only 12 alerts for 2025, compared to 230 in Ontario and 72 in Alberta.

“People in Sumas Flats should not have to rely on air raid sirens in Sumas, Washington, to warn them,” said Abbotsford MLA and B.C. Conservative, Bruce Banman. “If a flood doesn’t qualify as a natural disaster, I don’t know what the heck does.”

Ongoing confusion about how the system works

In an email, the city of Abbotsford told CTV News that “because (of the) dynamic nature of the event and the limited number of orders being issued, first responders hand delivered all evacuation orders” to hundreds of homes in the affected areas.

While that method would ensure that only those who have to leave would receive a notice, the AlertReady system allows distribution to very defined areas based on cell phone towers. The more towers with overlapping signals, the more precise the text delivery will be, even within a city block.

“It’s up to the issuing authority to determine where the alert is supposed to go,” explained Pelmorex Corp. director of regulatory, government and affiliate relations, Kurt Eby.

The company provides the software and regularly meets with provincial, territorial and federal officials about what they want from the system in order to incorporate their needs, but the parameters for use remain up to government leaders.

There is significant unused capacity in the system. For example, drivers approaching a highway closure or dangerous conditions could be warned well before the hazard, as could anyone who missed an alert in a community.

“Anyone with a phone that comes into that area, they’ll get the alert,” said Eby. “There’s a limit on just how long, so an alert can’t stay live for days and days and days without being renewed.”

Province keeps to traditional methods

In 2021, CTV News questioned the then-public safety minister about why alerts weren’t sent at a time there was significant risk to human life, and he repeated misinformation about “potential for panic” if the texts were received by people outside the affected area.

Abbotsford’s mayor similarly insisted he “didn’t want to alarm the whole city” of 162,000 people since only 300 people on Sumas Prairie were affected.

Even now that the province has expanded the scope for emergency text alerts beyond the initial tsunami-only policy, they weren’t used during a swift-moving wildfire that Shuswap residents barely escaped with their lives, nor in other recent emergencies.

“BC Emergency Alerts is just one of tools to alert people of emergencies in the province, and they are issued for critical, life-threatening emergencies that require immediate action to potentially save lives,” wrote emergency minister, Kelly Greene, in an email.

Her staff said she was not available for an interview, so CTV News was unable to ask her if she believed provincial staff should be more proactive in clarifying the activation policy and reminding local governments – which typically have municipal staff doing double-duty during crises – that the text alerts are an option that can be pinpointed to affected people.