The CRTC has invited members of official language minority communities to participate in a CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) study related to improving access to 911 services in both official languages.
Following incidents reported in January where 911 calls from francophone residents of Quebec were answered in English, the CRTC tasked the ESWG to come up with recommendations to ensure 911 calls routed to intermediary call centres are handled in the caller’s preferred official language.
The ESWG is to provide the commission with a report with its recommendations by Feb. 28, 2025.
“Commission staff believes that the ESWG’s study of this issue could benefit from the participation of Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC) to provide their views and opinions into this study and the development of solutions to improve access to 9-1-1 services in both official languages,” says a July 11 CRTC letter sent to various representatives of OLMCs.
The ESWG sub-working group tasked with addressing this issue plans to begin work on Wednesday, Sept. 25 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. ET, after which they will meet virtually every two weeks until the report is ready to be submitted to the commission, the CRTC’s letter says. In addition, participants are invited to attend the ESWG plenary meetings held on the second Thursday of every month.
“Even if you cannot attend these meetings, Commission staff intends to provide OLMCs with an opportunity to comment on the ESGW’s final report before it is considered by the Commission,” the letter says.
Members of OLMCs interested in participating in the ESWG’s development of the report are invited to contact Étienne Robelin, manager of the CRTC Emergency Services Policy team.
