It took a while but the Feds finally got around to putting together a comprehensive alert system for cell phones. You can't opt out and there is no charge for it. You will hear it unless you have your phone turned off or the sound is disabled. If you have one of the newer smart phones, the alert with its distinctive (and very annoying) tone will be broadcasted. The system will follow your phone and you will only receive alerts for your specific location. (A tornado in Edmonton won't give you an alert in Calgary!) A test of the system will be broadcast on May 5. One question, I haven't found an answer to is "If a visitor to Canada from the US was roaming on a Canadian network, would they also receive the alert?" After all, the signal is being pushed out by the Canadian cellar networks, would it affect all applicable cell phones?

I know we have had other alert systems in place for a while (my local city, my province and the weather network have all had systems in place for at least 2 years) via cell phone and TV but the Feds have finally created the national system. Hopefully, we won't get the false alarms of the type that hit Hawaii over a nuclear threat. We also don't have a DEFCON type of alert either.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/canada-cellphone-emergency-alert-1.4605656