Multiple phones in Medicine Hat receive the Alert Ready test message -File Photo

By Charles Lefebvre

This is a test

Test of Alert Ready system Wednesday afternoon

Nov 25, 2019 | 1:47 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A test of the Alert Ready system is taking place on Wednesday.

A test message will be sent over television, radio and compatible wireless devices at 1:55 p.m. Mountain Time in Alberta. It will be sent at 1:55 p.m. Central Time in Saskatchewan.

The test is used to educate Canadians on what an emergency alert will look like and sound like in the event of an actual emergency situation, according to a news release.

The news release adds since Alert Ready was created in 2010, 1,413 alerts have been sent over the system. So far in 2019, 130 emergency alerts have been issued across Canada.

All new phones sold in Canada are Wireless Public Alerting (WPA) compatible. The wireless device must also have the most recent software version installed, correct phone settings and be connected to a LTE network to receive an emergency alert. Canadians are unable to opt-out of Alert Ready.

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More information about the tests can be found on alertready.ca.