Next-generation 911 coming to Manitoba by early 2027

Manitoba, which has been plagued by spotty 911 service, will be ready to switch to a modern, next generation emergency call system by the federally mandated deadline, says Bell Canada.

“All Manitoba public safety answering points are planned to be migrated to Bell Canada’s next-generation 911 network by end of 2026,” the company said in a statement Thursday.

All emergency call centres must be ready to provide next generation 911 voice and text messaging services by March 31, 2027 as directed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

All phone and cellphone service companies are required to update their networks from analog to digital so they’re ready to provide next generation 911 voice and text messaging services.

The modernized system will make it possible to provide additional details about emergency situations, the CRTC says.

For example, in the future, Canadians could send a video of a collision, as well as make medical information available to first responders. “This will lead to safer, faster and more informed emergency responses,” the federal regulator says.

In Manitoba, the 911 system that’s supposed to connect people to emergency responders has been called out for a lack of service, including in connection with one person’s death in 2025.

In April, more than 50 people were unable to get through to 911 because of a Bell MTS service outage, Bell Canada reported to the CRTC in May. The company blamed a power failure and surveillance tools that didn’t trigger alarms.

In March 2025, 55-year-old Dean Switzer died of a heart attack in the Interlake while his family and friends tried in vain to reach 911 for 90 minutes while they performed CPR — not realizing their Telus service was not working. Telus blamed the outage on a Bell equipment failure.

Earlier this year, Bell Canada issued a bulletin warning that “it may be impossible” for everyone to make the CRTC deadline because so many had cancelled their scheduled “onboarding” to the new emergency system. To implement next generation 911, public safety answering points must upgrade their equipment to be compatible with the next generation 911 networks and to receive internet protocol-based 911 communications.

A list obtained by the Free Press showed dozens of public safety answering points across Canada had been onboarded earlier this year for next-generation 911, but there were none in Manitoba.

Bell Canada said Thursday the work to migrate to next-generation 911 in Manitoba is “on track for completion throughout 2026.”

“Bell is continuing to support the Manitoba (public safety answering points) with their transition to next generation 911 and the work is well-positioned to be complete by the mandated date,” the company said Thursday.

When asked about the consequences of failing to meet the March 31 target, the CRTC said the 2027 deadline is intended to support the full transition to next generation 911 and the eventual decommissioning of legacy 911 networks.

“If a (public safety answering point) is not ready by that time, it is responsible for ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place to continue receiving emergency calls,” said Benoit Fortin with the independent quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates the Canadian communications sector.

“The transition to next-generation 911 will modernize Canada’s emergency response system by enabling new capabilities, such as real-time text communication,” Fortin said in an email.

Several provincial government departments have been collaborating with the Association of Manitoba Municipalities to ensure that next generation 911 services are set up by the CRTC deadline, Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard said in an email Thursday.

Manitoba’s public safety answering points have a plan to transition to the modern infrastructure ahead of the CRTC deadline, said the minister whose department worked with the attorney general and Manitoba Innovation and New Technology to ensure it happens on time.

“We are confident that all parties involved are doing the work to ensure that those deadlines are met,” Simard said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca