Canada Communications Outage: Cell Service, Internet, And Some 911 Landline Service Down


A communication outage in Atlantic Canada has taken out cellphone, landlines, and internet access. Both Telus and Bell customers have been impacted throughout eastern Canada since this morning.

What caused the massive communications outage in Canada remains unknown. A tweet by Telus published earlier today indicates technicians are attempting to discover the “root cause” of the multiple network outage in the Maritimes area.

Some banks and their ATM machines in the New Brunswick region have closed due to the massive communications outage. Stores in the same area have also temporarily closed their doors due to debit and “interact service problems.”

The Canadian communication outage has impacted multiple provinces along the Atlantic Coast. Communications problems have been plaguing the Newfoundland, Toronto, New Brunswick, Ottawa, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island region since early this morning.

Marc Choma, the director of communications for Bell, said teams of technicians from the company are working to re-establish service “as soon as possible.” Bell deemed the Canada communications problem a “major service outage” that has affected 911 landline service intermittently and television service as well, CP24 reports.

A public notice by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary revealed some Canadians in the communications outage impacted area are not able to call either 911 or other non-emergency and law enforcement phone numbers. The constabulary urged residents to stop calling 911 just to “test” the system to see if it is back up and running yet, CTV News reports.

Emergency services agencies in the Atlantic Canada region advised residents to try to use alternative non-emergency numbers to reach their respective departments until 911 service is restored. The Gander Fire and Rescue Department in Newfoundland revealed in a tweet the 911 system is not working for them at this time.

The New Brunswick Justice and Public Safety Department is advising the residents they serve that the lack of a functional 911 system may hinder services by first responders.

“Emergency response agencies and critical infrastructure owners/operators have contingency plans for telecommunications outages and these plans are currently being put into place. However, 911 services appear to be working at this time. If 911 does not work, we advise residents to contact the appropriate agencies on their non-emergency line,” said New Brunswick Justice and Public Safety Department Director of Communications Elaine Bell.

The Upper Kingsclear Fire Department, also in the New Brunswick area, said they are getting 911 service, and it appears users of the Rogers cellular network in the area can as well.

In Nova Scotia, the emergency health services agency said the province-wide communications outage has prompted them to call all of their on-duty teams back to their stations and to monitor their electronic tablets for calls for service.

[Featured Image by Akhenaton Images/Shutterstock]

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