The CRTC last week asked the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee’s (CISC) Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) to provide recommendations to ensure 911 calls routed to intermediary call centres are handled in the caller’s preferred official language.
The request stems from incidents reported in January in which 911 calls from francophone residents of Quebec were routed to Sudbury-based intermediary call centre Northern911 and answered in English.
In a May 31 letter to Ryan Anstey of the CISC’s ESWG, the CRTC’s executive director of telecommunications, Leila Wright, says the commission is concerned about the reported events.
“Canadians need access to 9-1-1 services in the official language of their choice. We are working to help find solutions that fall within our mandate,” the letter says.
“While we are encouraged by the initiatives already taken by the industry, this issue warrants deeper exploration,” the letter continues. “The ESWG’s members are technological and operational experts on issues related to 9-1-1. As such, we are asking the ESWG to help identify potential solutions.”
The commission asks the ESWG to keep in mind the CRTC is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates telecommunications service providers (TSPs) and has no regulatory oversight of intermediary call centres nor public safety answering points (PSAPs), which handle the vast majority of 911 calls across the country.
“The ESWG should also take into consideration the roles and responsibilities of all industry players involved in the initiation, routing, response, and transfer of 9-1-1 calls answered by intermediaries (e.g., end-users, TSPs, intermediaries, etc.), as well as the existing or new administrative, technical, and operational solutions each party can implement or support to ensure that 9-1-1 calls answered by intermediaries are handled in the caller’s preferred official language,” the letter says.
The commission lists several items the ESWG’s report should contain, including the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed solution, as well as implementation timelines, the responsible party or parties, and monitoring strategies necessary to ensure the solution is effective.
In the report, the commission also wants the ESWG to assess regional differences across Canada in the use of official languages and the impact of these differences on the effectiveness of each proposed solution.
Furthermore, the commission expects the ESWG’s report to discuss whether mandating quality-of-service standards for 911 calls answered by intermediaries (similar to standards in place for PSAPs) can improve service in the caller’s preferred official language, as well as whether and how TSPs should record and use customer official language preferences to ensure calls answered by intermediaries are handled in the customer’s preferred language.
The report should also discuss whether specific TSP- and customer-facing communications are required to ensure the customer’s official language preference is identified, recorded and operationalized when 911 calls are routed to an intermediary, the letter says. If they are required, the report should provide the form of communication, the information to be included in the communication, and the party responsible for issuing the communication, the letter adds.
The commission asks the ESWG to engage with official language minority community (OLMC) members and representatives in its discussions and development of potential solutions. CRTC staff will also encourage participation by OLMC representatives, it says.
During the ESWG’s work, the CRTC wants informal progress reports and updates that will be posted to the commission’s website, starting no later than July 2.
Recognizing the ESWG’s members are volunteers who participate in the working group while balancing other commitments, the commission has set Feb. 28, 2025 as the deadline for the ESWG’s final report.
“Nonetheless, ESWG should bring forward, at any point, and without hesitation, recommendations from its experts that can assist the CRTC in addressing this issue,” the letter says.
