Next-generation 911 technology needed now, Ottawa man urges CRTC [Video]

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) may give the centres that receive and process 911 calls across the country an extra year to implement next-generation technology, but one Ottawa man argues it’s too important to delay. 

While callers might not notice the difference right away, next-generation 911 (NG911) would improve the system for operators and allow for new features down the line, like allowing callers to text or send photos.

All municipalities were supposed to phase out older systems by March 4, 2025, but the CRTC received three applications in December 2023 from eight groups including associations representing chiefs of police, paramedics and firefighters calling to push the deadline back as far as a year, to March 4, 2026.

In September, Ottawa businessman and college professor Michael Wood filed his own intervention, declaring the CRTC should “urgently facilitate the implementation of NG911 across Canada and reject proposals to delay it.”

“These are …