Does Bandwidth provide 911 service in Canada?

Yes, we provide VoIP 911 services in Canada! If you have questions about emergency calling support for your Canadian phone numbers, please reach out to your Account Manager. Not sure who your Account Manager is? Please open a ticket with your Bandwidth Support Team or hit us up at (855) 864-7776! 

Does Bandwidth 911 service work for customers in Canada?

Yes! Although there are a few differences with 911 in Canada, your provisioning and interconnection with Bandwidth remain the same. Once you’re provisioned and connected with Bandwidth, we handle local service variations, including how to process a 911 call in Canada. You don’t need a special account for your Canadian numbers. Since all your US and Canadian 911 endpoint records are stored together in the same account, all you have to do is register a Canadian address to your endpoint. 

Why do all 911 calls in Canada go through Bandwidth’s ECC?

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has developed different rules and requirements for emergency calling through VoIP services than those that apply to a plain old telephone service (POTS) line. The primary difference with VoIP 911 calling in Canada is that the calls are routed to a national Emergency Call Center (ECC) for initial handling rather than a local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The ECC operator will verbally confirm the address with the end user before routing the call to the PSAP. This effectively means the 911 call “hops” through the ECC before it’s transferred to the correct destination PSAP. 

The ECC and their APCO-certified 911 call takers have access to our 911 Access Portal. That means the provisioned address is available to the ECC call taker in real time. If the person on the 911 call is unable to speak, the ECC call taker will transfer the call to the destination PSAP anyway and stay on the line to confirm the address to the dispatching 911 operator.

Why does the "911 Response (MSAG) Address" for my Canadian address appear to be blank?

Canada doesn't have a Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) like most PSAPs in the US do so there will never be an address populated in this field. Instead, the address delivered to the ECC will be the full address listed under "Validated Address".