Quebec police forces reporting problems with 911 call routing
Posted September 17, 2026 6:48 am.
Police forces nationwide were reporting difficulties in routing 911 calls on Thursday morning.
While the problem is being resolved in some areas, reports indicate it is persisting elsewhere.
On social media, police forces urged the public to use their telephone line, normally reserved for non-emergency calls, to report an emergency.
“Due to a provincial issue affecting telecommunications services, calls made to 911 may be routed via an unusual path before being forwarded to our dispatchers,” explained Thérèse-De Blainville police, one of many forces affected. “911 remains operational and emergency calls continue to be received and handled. However, the call may be transferred before it reaches us.”
Other municipal police forces, including Quebec City police (SPVQ), have issued similar warnings.
Provincial police force, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), says it was also affected.
“A technical issue is currently affecting the transfer of certain calls between 911 centres and the Sûreté du Québec’s call centres,” it stated on social media.
The SQ noted that “public safety remains our priority. We will keep you informed of developments as soon as further information becomes available,” adding that its police services “remain fully operational.”
Montreal police (SPVM) confirmed that it was also affected by the outage, but noted its service was operational as of 4:45 a.m.
An SPVM spokesperson told The Canadian Press that the outage occurred at the telephone provider responsible for 911 services.
Although calls were still being received, it’s possible that they were being routed to police forces elsewhere in the country.
As of 5 a.m., the SPVM said it was assessing the impact of the disruption.
The situation was not limited to Quebec.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) also confirmed that it had received reports of intermittent 911 service disruptions in certain parts of the province.
“The issue is under investigation and updates will be provided as soon as information becomes available,” it wrote on Facebook.
Police forces in New Brunswick also reported routing problems of 911 calls, but the issue appears to be resolved.
Police services in Toronto and Winnipeg, in addition to others, were also affected.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
