UPDATE:

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis provided a statement on the emergency alerts. 

“During the test in Alberta on March 1 of the new national system, a glitch caused multiple test alert messages to be distributed to compatible devices. All partners in the National Public Alerting System are working with the Alberta Public Alerting team to identify and resolve the issue that caused these repeat alerts. 

“Incidents like the one that occurred are exactly why we conduct testing on the Alert System. We need to ensure that the system is working as intended during an actual emergency to protect Albertans.

“We recognize the disruption these multiple alerts caused Albertans and are addressing this issue as quickly as possible to ensure the system works as intended so we can keep Albertans safe during an emergency.”

 

Original Post:

It seems today’s Emergency Alert test didn’t go quite as planned. People took to social media claiming they got as many as five, six, seven, and eight emergency alert notices.  

The Government of Alberta's Emergency Alert Archive has nine emergency alerts recorded for March 1, 2023. 

People claimed the test interrupted meetings, sleep, and disturbed those with special needs. 

The alert was originally scheduled for 1:55PM today with messages going towards TV, radio, cellphones, and tablets.  

Updates will be provided as they are available.