Charlottetown 
Expect an emergency alert on your wireless phone this Wednesday, as the National Public Alerting System will be tested.
Credit: Alert Ready/Twitter
On May 6, Canada’s national public alerting system will issue one text message to all wireless phones except those in Quebec and Saskatchewan. In Ontario, the testing will take place on May 7th.
Alerts will be issued on wireless phones, radio, and T.V., and tests will be conducted at various times across most provinces and territories. During the test, you will hear an emergency alert sound, beginning with the alert tone known as the Canadian Alert Attention Signal.
To get the emergency alert on your wireless phone, it should be connected to an LTE or 5G wireless network when the emergency alert is issued.
If your cellphone is set to silent, it will display an emergency alert but will not play the alert tone.
Alert Ready Test Times:
Canadians will receive one test message from their respective provincial or territorial emergency management organization over television, radio, and compatible wireless devices at the following times:
| PROVINCE OR TERRITORY | TIME OF TEST May 6, 2026 |
| Alberta | 1:55 PM MDT |
| British Columbia | 1:55 PM PDT |
| Manitoba | 1:55 PM CDT |
| New Brunswick | 10:55 AM ADT |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 9:55 AM NDT |
| Northwest Territories | 9:55 AM MDT |
| Nova Scotia | 1:55 PM ADT |
| Nunavut | 2:00 PM EDT |
| Ontario | May 7 1:55 PM EDT |
| Prince Edward Island | 12:55 PM ADT |
| Quebec | No test |
| Saskatchewan | Test Cancelled. |
| Yukon | 1:55 PM YST |
The message will indicate that it is a test that does not require action from the public. Canadians cannot opt out of this essential life-saving service, given the importance of warning them of imminent threats to their safety and property.
Alert Ready tests are conducted twice yearly, during Emergency Preparedness Week in May and the third week of November.
Alert Ready Roles (CNW Group/Pelmorex Corp.)
The National Public Alerting System (NPAS) is a collaboration among Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial governments, enabling rapid warnings through media and wireless devices for emergencies. Public Safety Canada serves as the federal coordinator, ensuring NPAS meets various governmental needs through the Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management. Each local Emergency Management Organization (EMO) determines the specifics of issuing alerts—type, content, duration, and affected areas—under agreements that outline their operational roles in public alerting.
The Government Operations Centre at Public Safety Canada coordinates federal responses to significant incidents and has partnered with Pelmorex Corp. to issue national alerts. Pelmorex, which operates the Weather Network, manages the NPAS’s core technical system, which is essential for validating and broadcasting alerts.
You need to contact your service provider if you did not receive an alert on your phone during the test. An alert is an important warning mechanism intended to notify you of imminent threats to life or property, such as tornadoes, wildfires, floods, Amber Alerts, or nuclear events.
