Canada Dealing With Massive Internet Outage, 911 Services Affected

The outage is affecting customers of Rogers Communications, the largest telecom in Canada and one of three companies that control 90% of the telecommunication industry in the country.

Millions of Canadians are dealing with a day-long internet outage that has affected everything from ATMs to 911 to Canadians just trying to buy a cup of coffee.

No reason for the outage has been given by Rogers Communications, and no timeline has been set for when service will be restored. Instead, a statement was posted to their website saying that they are aware of and working on the issue.

“Our technical teams are working to restore our services alongside our global technology partners, and are making progress. We know how much you rely on our networks. Today we have let you down. We are working to make this right as quickly as we can. We will continue to keep you updated, including when services will be back online.”

The outage has caused issues for citizens attempting to contact emergency services. Ottawa police have asked people to keep calling if they need help and to try making the call using a landline or a cell phone that uses a different service provider.

The outage is affecting customers in the entire country, including Ottawa and Toronto. Toronto’s public transportation system has also been affected, with customers unable to purchase tickets using credit cards and debit cards.

Meanwhile, banks are having issues. The Bank of Montreal said its services have been affected by the outage. Likewise, the Royal Bank of Canada said its ATM and online banking services are down.

This is the second large internet outage to hit Canada in 15 months. In April 2021, thousands of Rogers Communications customers complained about interruptions to their wireless internet and voice call services.

Internet monitoring service Downdetector started receiving reports about the outage at 4 a.m. EDT. By 7 a.m., the number of reports had increased to 20,000.

Perhaps worst of all, Canadian staple Tim Hortons has been having issues, with locations in Ottawa not being able to accept debit and credit cards, according to The Guardian. Tim Hortons has not yet responded to inquiries about the outage.

Canada’s industry minister François-Philippe Champagne stated on Twitter that he is in contact with the company. He also expressed a need to increase competition in Canada’s telecom industry.

“Spoke to the CEO of Rogers. Shared with him the frustration of millions of Canadians. Also spoke [with] the CEOs of both [other major telecom companies in Canada] Bell and Telus. Everyone is in solution mode, willing to help. This unacceptable situation is why quality, diversity & reliability are key to our telecom network.”