911 program legislation, standards and funding

Overview

The Emergency 911 Act and its regulations first came into force in 2014. In September 2021, the Emergency 911 Act was amended to apply to both primary and secondary public safety answering points (PSAPs). Primary PSAPs answer and evaluate emergency calls directly from the public. Secondary PSAPs further evaluate calls and dispatch first responders. 

The Emergency 911 Act

The Emergency 911 Act authorizes the establishment of a $0.95 monthly 911 levy on cellphones, which is collected by telecommunication companies and remitted to the Government of Alberta to support the funding of PSAPs. This funding is a statutory appropriation, which means the collected funds can only be used for PSAPs and administration of this act.

In addition, the act authorizes the development of provincial 911 standards and establishes fines for frivolous or vexatious 911 calls. The act also provides the authority for the Emergency 911 Levy Regulation and the Emergency 911 Grants Regulation. 

• Emergency 911 Act
• Emergency 911 Levy Regulation
• Emergency 911 Grants Regulation

Alberta 911 Standards

The Emergency 911 Act gives the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services the power to establish provincial 911 standards. The Alberta 911 Standards were developed through collaboration between the Alberta 911 Program and 911 stakeholders throughout the province. The standards apply to both primary and secondary PSAPS that provide 911 services within Alberta. The standards are in place to ensure PSAPs can provide agile, dynamic and dependable 911 services for Albertans, and that 911 services in Alberta are efficient, consistent and robust overall. 

Recent updates to the standards further strengthen the system by aligning with Next Generation 911 (NG911) requirements and implementation timelines set by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The amended standards introduce enhanced cybersecurity measures, improve backup response times by requiring 911 calls to be automatically answered by backup systems within 90 seconds, align audit cycles with industry best practices to reduce administrative burden, and ensure the standards are clear, accessible and easy to implement. 

Funding

Levies

On September 1, 2021, the monthly 911 levy increased to 95 cents per month on all Alberta cellphones. Most of this funding will go directly towards Alberta’s PSAPs, with a portion covering service provider and program area administration costs. This increased funding will support both primary and secondary PSAPs and assist with upgrading to federally mandated NG911 technology over the next few years. The increased funding re-establishes a proportionate funding model, sharing costs with municipalities and agencies that run PSAPs. This funding is meant to enhance, not replace, existing funding sources.

The Emergency 911 Levy Regulation outlines billing and administration of the levy. Learn more about the emergency 911 levy.

The provincial levy collected from cellphones helps strengthen and support the delivery of 911 by providing quarterly grant funding for:

• staff and training costs
• updating hardware
• facility costs
• funding new technology and upgrading to NG911 

Learn more about the funding formula and how grant money can be spent by reading the Alberta 911 Grant Program Guidelines.

Table 1. Fund granted to Alberta PSAPs (total annual payment for 2024/2025)

* Actual disbursements to the RCMP may differ slightly from reported figures due to invoicing practices under provincial policing contracts.

Contact

Connect with the Alberta 911 program:
Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Email: [email protected]