TORONTO and – Canadians who are members of the deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired (DHHSI) community are now one step closer to using the Text with 9-1-1 service (T9-1-1) in every region of the country.
The service, which began rolling out in March 2014, is now available to most Canadians, including in many parts of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and province-wide in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. Some 9-1-1 call centres are still making the necessary upgrades to their systems and will launch the T9-1-1 service in the coming months.
Users of this service must register for T9-1-1 with their wireless service provider in order to use the service. Once registered for the service, when a Deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired person requires 9-1-1 services, they dial 9-1-1 on their cell phone. The 9-1-1 dispatcher then receives a notification advising them to communicate with the caller via text messaging.
Even if Text with 9-1-1 is not yet available in their region, all Canadians who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired may register for the service if their provider offers it in other regions, making it available to them when travelling to serviced regions.
T9-1-1 is only available to Canadians who are Deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired. The CRTC is currently conducting a proceeding to examine next-generation 9-1-1 services, which could provide all Canadians with the ability to send text messages, photos and videos to 9-1-1 operators. The public hearing is scheduled to begin on January 16, 2017.
