Wood: Updating Ontario's 911 system is the real emergency

If you call 911, you can’t be transferred to the system in another city. That won’t be fixed until 2025. In the meantime, lives are at stake.

Published Jul 17, 2023 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 3 minute read

Ottawa Police are expected to respond to 911 calls quickly. The problem arises when you need to call 911 in another city. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

I have a family member in Toronto who sent me end-of-life text messages throughout the pandemic and does so to this day. The strain and pressure had reached that level for my relative.

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If you were in my position, here in Ottawa, your first thought would be to call 911 and request to be transferred to the Toronto 911 service. Shockingly, in 2023, your call cannot be transferred.

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I’ve spoken at an Ottawa Council committee about 911. Here are some interesting facts from the 911 annual report for 2021 and 2022. Performance levels for 911 in Ottawa include:

“1. That a minimum number of 9-1-1 call takers are on duty at all times.

“2. The number of call takers is adjusted according to call volume demand.

“3. That 97 percent of all calls be answered within six seconds from the time a call is received.”

I repeat: In an emergency, 97 per cent of calls should be answered within six seconds. The challenge for those who are in this city but aware of an emergency in another city is that you are directed to call that municipality’s non-emergency line.

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What does this mean? It means that in the case of my relative, I had to call Toronto Police non-emergency and wait on hold for someone to answer my call. The first time I had to do this, I was on hold for an hour-and-a-half. I have had to do this multiple times, including on New Year’s Eve, 2022, when I was on hold for more than two hours.

The CRTC has mandated that Next Generation 911, or NG-911, be implemented across Canada by 2025. With NG-911, people can text in case of an emergency. As of today, the closest service to that in Ottawa is Unsafe At Home Ottawa (unsafeathomeottawa.ca). It is essential for those in abusive relationships who cannot pick up the phone and call for help.

People should be able to text for urgent emergency services in 2023 but, shockingly, cannot.

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NG 911 will also ensure that the 911 dispatch centres operate in a digital environment, not just the analogue systems they currently use, and that they can also accept photos and video.

But with NG-911 upgrades not being mandated until March 2025, friends and families will be in incredibly stressful situations as the mental health and addiction crisis continues to rise.

People have sent me private messages on social media saying they have experienced the same problems I have. One stated that in a time of extreme emergency in Sault Ste. Marie, they were shocked to discover they could not be transferred from Ottawa and found themselves desperate to work through a phone-tree system seeking immediate help for a loved one.

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Recently, I was at Queen’s Park, meeting with the commissioner of Emergency Management for Ontario and the president of the Ontario Treasury Board. I also met with the Ontario Green Party leader — a strong advocate for mental health — and with Progressive Conservative, Liberal and NDP MPPs, as this should be a non-partisan issue to solve. I also met with three ministerial chiefs of staff, including the chief of staff to the minister of Mental Health and Addictions for Ontario, to advocate in getting assistance to update emergency services across Ontario.

Upon my return, I continued my advocacy for immediate change with Ottawa Coun. David Hill; Beth Gooding, the director of Public Safety for the City of Ottawa; and Ottawa Police member Eric Janus. I have also met with and continue to meet with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Rogers and Telus. In Ontario, Bell controls 911, and while I have received confirmation of a willingness to meet, I am still awaiting a date.

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We need everyone to act sooner than 2025.

In the meantime, please support your loved ones and if you can, help advocate for change on their behalf. We have this one life and deserve nothing less than health and happiness.

Michael Wood is a business consultant at Ottawa Consultants, a professor at Algonquin College and has advocated for small businesses before all levels of government. Twitter: MikeWoodOttawa