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Improving Canadian Alerting 📢

Rob Hopkins, an Open Source broadcast automation developer, urges the CRTC, ISED, and NPAS partners to make Canada’s public emergency alerting system (NPAS) more reliable, inclusive, and transparent, especially for remote and Indigenous communities.

Key Recommendations:

  • Create a permanent, always-on CAP alert test signal
  • Enforce strict CAP X.1303 standards with full multi-language/Unicode Support, including Indigenous languages
  • Enable licence-exempt Low Power FM (LPFM) emergency radio service (e.g., 91.1 MHz) for remote communities
  • Launch a Canadian-hosted, privacy-compliant reporting portal and improve communication
  • Establish a coordinated process for security vulnerability disclosures
  • Modernize attachment and storage policies to prevent system overload
  • Consider an official alert app to help users manage alert fatigue
  • Maintain clear station accountability and operator training requirements

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

Attn: Marc Morin – Secretary General

Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0N2

Re: Improving the Canadian public alerting system CRTC 2025-180-1

Summary

Rob Hopkins is a Canadian Open Source developer and supplier of broadcast automation and alerting solutions, used by radio and TV stations, including those in remote and Indigenous communities. I have Supported integrated alerting since 2001, adopted Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), an ITU X.1303 standard, in 2015 with Yukon Government funding, later adding Support for unattended Indigenous languages CAP Alerts.

Based on over two decades of field experience, I direct the CRTC, working with ISED, Environment Canada and Pelmorex (as the NPAS operator), to implement targeted changes to; improve standards compliance, testability, transparency, inclusion, resilience, and user trust.

Experience

  • History: CFET Radio Tagish YT since 1997, providing broadcast automation services since 2001, pilot project with CFET and Yukon Government in 2014, facilitated the first NPAS CAP test via C-band in northern Canada, released Open Source CAP Alert code 2015 (exceeding CLFG specifications).

  • Technology: Open source CAP AlertPlayer runs on low cost Raspberry Pi computer, full Unicode UTF-8 Support, Indigenous languages audio alerting and upgraded neural TTS voices.

  • Field Support: User Support site and ongoing community Support with a Discord channel. Our group routinely assist broadcasters, many times “Pro Bono” with integration; training, networking, and NPAS conformance issues.

Comments and Recommendations

1. Standards Compliance (CAP ITU X.1303 / OASIS)

Issue: Inconsistent data quality in CAP messages undermine alert reliability and impede automated processing. Recommendation:

  • Require strict adherence to Canadian adopted CAP profiles, with validation at ingestion and distribution.

  • Prohibit hashtags and non-alphanumeric artifacts in public-facing fields.

  • Require critical details (protective action, location) in designated CAP fields.

  • Publish and maintain a Canadian CAP profile conformance statement and test suite; require annual conformance testing of authorities and vendors.

  • Ensure end-to-end Support for multiple info blocks including Unicode UTF-8 for Indigenous language content.

  • SOREM to establish national best practices for alert content and consistency.

  • Develop standardized templates for fast, accurate message creation.

2. Continuous Dedicated Test SGC Resource

Issue: Current system lacks continuous, practical tests; all end points and stations cannot reliably verify compliance. Users might have to wait weeks/months before semi-annual tests to test levels in their broadcast chain. Recommendation:

  • Create a dedicated SGC always-on CAP test feed (e.g., every 15 minutes).

3. Reporting Transparency and Privacy

Issue: Reception/reporting relies on scattered non-Canadian forms and offers poor feedback and privacy assurance. Recommendation:

  • Establish a Canadian-hosted, privacy-compliant reporting portal with clear data policy.

  • Provide submitters with acknowledgments, dashboards, and analytics.

  • Publish RAW anonymous aggregate reception metrics and issues after each test.

4. Security and Vulnerability Disclosure

Issue: Stakeholders lack proactive notification of security issues; communication hygiene is lacking. Recommendation:

  • Establish a formal NPAS Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD) program with clear contacts.

  • Improve email/list hygiene: utilize Canadian hosted mailing list software and use BCC (please) as needed to avoid potentially spreading malware and spam.

5. Indigenous Languages & Accessibility

Issue: Multi-language Support is inconsistent and not fully realized. Recommendation:

  • Aggregator must accept, preserve, and distribute multiple language info blocks in CAP.

  • Emergency officials should be able to issue alerts in English, French, and selected Indigenous languages—with automatic CAP-CP file population.

  • Encourage high-quality TTS and pronunciation lexicons for Indigenous place names.

  • Fund and publish sample test suites for multi-language validation.

6. Attachments, Storage, and Bandwidth

Issue: Large/embedded CAP attachments strain bandwidth and device storage. Recommendation:

  • Better implement size/type guidelines for attachments; prefer streaming references where feasible.

  • Set cache-control and retention policies for aggregators and endpoints.

7. End-User Experience and Alert Fatigue

Issue: Alert fatigue and late-night notifications drive users to disable systems. Recommendation:

  • Explore an official app for user preference control (e.g., muting AMBER/Silver alerts, but not urgent life-safety messages).

  • Benefit of installing and managing an official app would allow users to over ride WEA alerts CB (Cell Broadcast) that trigger those late night alerts.

  • Ensure alert labels on devices match Canadian standards (avoid distributing “Presidential Alert”).

8. Remote Indigenous Community Resilience (LPFM and 91.1 MHz)

Issue: Many indigenous and remote communities lack cellular coverage (when available, it is, very expensive) excluding seniors and those on fixed incomes left relying solely on FM radio if there is anything at all. Recommendation:

  • Coordinate with ISED and CRTC for streamlined, license-exempt LPFM path for emergency community radio (e.g., national 91.1 MHz where feasible). Remove the unnecessary government administrative and bureaucratic burdens.

  • I propose exempting 3G (on the way out anyways) and northern cellular operators (e.g., Ice Wireless, Eeyou Mobility, SSi Canada) from the high costs of Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) implementation of commercial proprietary CB (Cell Broadcast).

  • Instead, allowing these community providers to directly Support alternative emergency alert FM radio infrastructure in those rural remote communities—often monopolized by Bell. This would improve cost efficiency, inclusion, and redundancy in emergency communications for underserved Indigenous regions.

9. Maintenance, Updates and Station Accountability

Issue: Station-side responsibility is often unclear. Recommendation:

  • Maintain a registry of technical Support and/or engineering contacts for each participating station, updated annually during DCS reporting.

10. Operational Quality Assurance

Issue: Persistently malformed CAP messages continue from some authorities. Recommendation:

  • Make CAP validation mandatory using templates before messages are published; provide CAP validators and training.

References

Specific Requests

Direct the Commission to order NPAS governance partners:

  1. Implement a dedicated test SGC signal and continuous CAP test feed.

  2. Enforce CAP X.1303 profile conformance with published validation, test suites, and annual checks.

  3. Establish a Canadian-hosted reporting portal with transparent privacy/data residency and feedback tools.

  4. Create a national coordinated vulnerability disclosure program and improve communications with established standard business practices.

  5. Ensure full Unicode and multi-language Support end-to-end, including Indigenous languages.

  6. Update attachment size/type/retention guidelines to prevent endpoint overload.

  7. Coordinate with ISED and CRTC on streamlined LPFM emergency radio for remote indigenous communities (utilizing 91.1 MHz).

  8. Maintain a registry of responsible technical contacts for stations.

  9. Require issuing authorities to use CAP validators, standardized templates and provide targeted operator training.

  10. Ensure correct alert taxonomy and labeling on Canadian devices (with carriers and manufacturers).

Conclusion

As a Canadian Open Source developer, I Support NPAS improvements in standards, diversity, and resilience. I am available to appear for public hearings, working groups, collaboration and providing Open Source code for implementation of the national alerting ecosystem.

Robert G. Hopkins – Radio and Telecommunications Enthusiast

Date: Nov 21, 2025

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