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Halton Region Continues to Be a Leader in Delivering Community Emergency Notification Services


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Halton Region’s Administration and Finance Committee has recommended for Regional Council consideration a new service that will enhance the Region’s community emergency telephone notification service utilized to phone and deliver a message to designated households in the Region, in the event of an emergency. The Region will be one of the first Canadian municipalities to have access to Bell’s Reverse 9-1-1 data and the first to use geospatial coordinates (latitude and longitude) for its civic addresses in the 9-1-1 database for the purpose of emergency community notification. The report goes to Regional Council for final approval on June 19th.

“At Halton Region we take our responsibility very seriously and are committed to ensuring that we are ready to respond to any emergency situation and are able to reach as many people as possible,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “We continue to improve our Community Emergency Notification Service (CENS) so that Halton Region remains not only the safest region in Canada, but one of the most prepared. This initiative will increase the reach of CENS from 60 per cent of Halton Region residents to more than 95 per cent. This is just one more avenue we are using to ensure that residents are informed.”

Since 2008 Halton Region has used its Community Emergency Notification Service as one of many ways to notify the public about an emergency situation. In order to improve notification capabilities and to accurately reach as many residents as possible, Bell Canada’s Enhanced Notification Service will supply a greater range of telephone numbers and addresses, including unlisted and do not call numbers. The initiative is a joint effort between the Region, Local Municipalities, Bell Canada and Telus Communications Company and will be available in November 2013.

For more information about the Community Emergency Notification Service and Halton’s Emergency Management Program, dial 311 or visit www.halton.ca/beprepared. You can also follow Emergency Preparedness on Twitter for emergency updates and preparedness tips.

The Regional Municipality of Halton serves more than 500,000 residents in the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, and the Town of Oakville. Halton Region is committed to meeting the needs of its residents through the delivery of cost-effective, quality programs and services, including water and wastewater; Regional roads and planning; paramedic services; waste management; public health; social assistance; children’s and seniors’ services; housing services; heritage programs; emergency management and economic development. For more information, dial 311 or visit Halton Region’s website at www.halton.ca.



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