Wireless public alerting

Overview

In Alberta you can receive wireless emergency alerts on your mobile phone in 2 ways, through the Alert Ready system or the Alberta Emergency Alert.

The two complementary systems send alerts that can include potentially lifesaving information during events like:

fires
natural disasters including:
- flooding
- earthquakes
- tornadoes
- wildfires
biological and hazardous events
terrorist events
AMBER alerts

See the alerting dictionary for more information about types of alerts,

System differences

Although both systems send emergency alerts, the Alert Ready system only sends messages with basic information for the affected area.

If you’d like to receive detailed information about developing and urgent issues across Alberta, including maps and resources, download the Alberta Emergency Alert App or sign up to receive alerts through the other mechanisms listed at on the Alberta Emergency Alert sign-up page.

For more information about both systems, read the Wireless Public Alerting factsheet(PDF, 333 KB)

Alberta Emergency Alert

To protect you and your family during a disaster, the Alberta government and its partners use the Alberta Emergency Alert system to:

warn you about emerging situations that threaten life and property
advise you about precautions and actions you can take to stay safe

When an alert is broadcasted it:

sends alerts to subscribed mobile devices in affected areas through the Alberta Emergency Alert app
interrupts radio and TV stations in Alberta
appears on social media platforms such as:
appears on:
- the Alberta Emergency Alert webpage
- the Alberta Motor Association road reports webpage
- digital highway billboards

Emergency alert app

The emergency alert app provides you with information about developing emergencies in your area.
The app allows you to set preferences including:

which areas you receive alerts for – only your location, your location and selected areas or the entire province
different tones for informational alerts

If a disaster also affected cellular towers in your area, you can still receive an alert if your device is connected to wifi.
To download the app, visit Alberta Emergency Alert.

Alert Ready

Alert Ready is an alerting system that allows governments across Canada to send important public safety messages to compatible mobile devices during an emergency.

These messages are only sent to devices in the affected area.

To receive an Alert Ready message your device must be:

an LTE capable device like a smartphone or tablet
turned on – depending on your settings you might not hear the alert or the alert may override your settings
connected to a LTE cellular network – if the device is set to wifi only, it won’t receive an alert

For more information about compatible devices visit Alert Ready.
Only serious alerts that require immediate action are sent using the Alert Ready system. The alerts are one-way messages you can’t reply to, and you will not be charged for.

You cannot opt-out of receiving serious alerts sent directly to your smartphone. These emergency alerts are targeted to your area, so if you receive one, you’re in area where there is immediate danger.

Issuing agencies

Alert messages are issued by provincial government agencies, communities and partners like Environment Canada and law enforcement. Test alerts are also issued twice yearly in May during Emergency Preparedness Week and on the last Wednesday of November.