Backgrounder: CRTC takes action to help protect Canadians from service outages

The CRTC is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates the Canadian communications sector in the public interest. The CRTC holds public consultations on telecommunications and broadcasting matters and makes decisions based on the public record.

As part of its broader efforts to improve telecommunications and broadcasting services across Canada, the CRTC is taking action to help lessen the disruptive impact of Internet, phone, and television service outages on Canadians. 

The CRTC, other government authorities, and service providers all play a role in preventing and managing service outages. This includes federal departments like Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Public Safety Canada, as well as provincial and territorial emergency management organizations, and 9-1-1 call centres.

Canadians experience service outages due to extreme weather events, technical failures, and other factors. These outages, even if they are short, are highly disruptive and can seriously impact Canadians’ lives. Outages can have harmful effects on people, especially when they cannot connect to emergency services in times of need.

The CRTC is pursuing a robust strategy and taking action within its mandate to help reduce the impact of service outages by improving the resiliency of telecommunications networks and the reliability of services. Today, the CRTC is setting reporting requirements for telecommunications service providers (TSPs) when major outages occur, and launching two public consultations on improving telecommunications network resiliency and service reliability, and on consumer protections during outages.

Decision on mandatory notification and reporting requirements of major telecommunications service outages

In February 2023, the CRTC launched a public consultation on how TSPs should report major service outages to the CRTC and other authorities. During its consultation, the CRTC received comments from over 100 groups and individuals, including TSPs, provincial, territorial, and local government authorities, industry associations, and consumer groups. At the same time, the CRTC set interim outage reporting requirements that came into effect in March 2023. Today’s decision sets out, on a final basis, more specific and robust outage reporting requirements than the interim ones.

These requirements will enable public safety authorities to better support TSPs and Canadians during major service outages and ultimately help restore the affected services as quickly as possible.

Providers are required to report major service outages to the CRTC and other government authorities, including ISED, federal, provincial, and territorial emergency management organizations, and 9-1-1 call centres. 

The decision also includes specific requirements for major outages affecting 9-1-1, wireless public alerting, accessibility and 9-8-8 services, as well as outages that isolate small communities.

Providers must give a comprehensive post-outage report to the CRTC within 30 days of restoring services after a major service outage. These reports must explain the reasons for the outage and the steps taken to prevent similar outages in the future.

The CRTC will publish the reports on its website so that Canadians can better understand the facts, and other providers can benefit from the lessons learned to improve the reliability of their own services.

Consultation on the development of a regulatory policy on measures to improve the resiliency of telecommunications networks and the reliability of telecommunications services

The CRTC is launching a public consultation to identify measures TSPs can take to reduce the occurrence, length, and impact of outages.

Through this consultation, the CRTC will develop a regulatory policy for all service providers to help improve network resiliency and service reliability across Canada. The CRTC is gathering views on the principles that should guide the regulatory policy, how service providers should design and operate their networks to be more resilient, and how the regulatory policy can help support the safety of Canadians, including in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.

The CRTC is welcoming comments on this consultation until December 3, 2025.

Consultation on consumer protections in the event of a service outage or disruption

The CRTC is also launching a public consultation to determine what consumer protections service providers should implement when a service outage or disruption affects Canadians’ home Internet, wireless, telephone, or television services.

The CRTC is gathering views on whether existing protections are meeting the needs of Canadians and what additional protections may be needed, including for persons with disabilities and people residing in rural or remote areas. The consultation is also looking at how these protections should be applied, who should oversee them, and how they should be implemented, promoted, and reviewed over time.

Any new measures will build upon existing protections, which include the Wireless Code, Internet Code, and the Television Service Provider Code.

The CRTC is welcoming comments on this consultation until November 13, 2025.

Additional actions to address service outages

These actions support the CRTC’s Consumer Protections Action Plan, which aims to help reduce the occurrence of service outages and ensure that Canadians have access to reliable and high-quality services, including emergency and accessibility services.

The CRTC has taken additional steps to address service outages. The CRTC:

• issued a regulatory policy to improve the reliability and affordability of Internet services in the Far North;
• issued a decision to mandate measures to improve the resiliency of the critical 9-1-1 and public alerting services; and
• is reviewing the Broadband Fund to consider if there is a role for that program to provide funding for projects that would improve the resiliency of telecommunication networks, especially in rural and remote areas.

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• CRTC takes action to help protect Canadians from service outages