Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to All Canadian Telecommunications Service Providers
Gatineau, 4 September 2025
Reference (s): 8000-C12-201909780
BY EMAIL
All Canadian Telecommunications Service Providers
Subject: Service Outage Notification and Reporting Requirements
Today, the Commission issued Telecom Decision 2025-225 (the decision), establishing, on a final basis, major service outage notification and reporting requirements. This decision requires all Canadian telecommunications service providers (TSPs) to report major service outages to the Commission, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), and other government authorities. Please refer to the decision for the complete requirements. For your convenience, the requirements are summarized in Attachment 1 to this letter. Most of these requirements will take effect on 4 November 2025.
An updated Service Outage Notification Form reflecting the new requirements is included in Attachment 2 to this letter. This form must be used to submit notifications of major service outages to the Commission.
A post-outage report must also be submitted to the Commission within 30 days of restoring services affected by a major service outage. This report must include the information specified in the decision, and as listed for your convenience in Attachment 3 to this letter. TSPs are encouraged to share lessons learned in the report in a way that can be made public for the benefit of all TSPs. If any information within the report is designated as confidential, a meaningful abridged version that can be published on the Commission’s website must also be provided.
The completed service outage notification form and post-outage report must be submitted by email to outage-panne@crtc.gc.ca. TSPs must also submit an abridged or non-confidential version of the post-outage report using My CRTC Account to facilitate publication on the Commission’s website.
In order to help you meet these requirements, we recommend that you assign one or more individuals within your organization who will be responsible for submitting outage notifications and post-outage reports. These individuals should become knowledgeable of all the major service outage notification and reporting requirements before the decision comes into effect, to ensure compliance with the decision.
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact CRTC client support.
Sincerely,
Ian Baggley
Director General, Strategic Planning, Broadband Fund & Networks
Telecommunications Sector
Attachments:
- Summary of the outage notification and reporting requirements
- Service outage notification form
- Post-outage report information
Attachment 1
| Type of service outage | Major primary service outage | Major emergency services outage | Major specialized services outage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major 9-1-1 service outage | Major wireless public alerting service outage | |||
| Outage description | A complete loss of service to any primary service, such as Internet access, cellphone, data services, and telephone services (including landline and voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP]). | An outage that only affects 9-1-1 service. This outage results in a full or partial disruption of 9-1-1 service. During a partial 9-1-1 service outage, 9-1-1 calls are delivered to the PSAP, but ancillary data is not delivered. |
An outage that only affects wireless public alerts. This is an outage in the wireless public alerting specific network elements operated by a wireless service provider (WSP). |
An outage that only affects TTY, IP Relay, or 9-8-8 services. A 9-8-8 outage results from an outage within the TSP’s implementation of the 9-8-8 service, and not at the 9-8-8 call center. |
| End-user impact for service outage to be considered major | At least 600,000 user-minutes affected, calculated by multiplying the duration of an outage in minutes by the number of end-users affected; or A community isolation event, defined as the loss of primary services to a remote, isolated, or rural community. |
Any number of end-users are affected. | Any number of end-users are affected. | Any number of end-users are affected. |
| Minimum duration for service outage to require notification | 30 minutes. | Notifying PSAPs: Outage of any duration Notifying the Commission, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and federal, provincial, and territorial emergency management organizations (FPT EMOs): 30 minutes. |
Notifying FPT EMOs: Outage of any duration. Notifying the Commission and ISED: 30 minutes. |
30 minutes. |
| Who must provide notification | All TSPs that own and operate transmission facilities or exempt transmission apparatus. Originating network providers are encouraged to notify relevant PSAPs about major primary service outages affecting voice and text. |
Originating network providers. 9-1-1 network providers. |
WSPs that are mandated to provide wireless public alerting services. | TSPs that are mandated to provide TTY relay, IP relay, or 9-8-8 services. |
| Government authorities to be notified | The Commission ISED The FPT EMOs who are responsible in the geographic area of the outage. Notification to the PSAPs who serve the area of an outage impacting voice and text services is encouraged. |
The Commission ISED The FPT EMOs who are responsible in the geographic area of the outage. The PSAPs who serve the area of the outage. |
The Commission ISED The FPT EMOs who are responsible in the geographic area of the outage. |
The Commission ISED |
| Time frame to provide notification after the TSP has become aware of the service outage | The Commission, ISED, and FPT EMOs within two hours. Notification to PSAPs within 30 minutes is encouraged. |
The Commission, ISED, and FPT EMOs within two hours. PSAPs within 30 minutes. |
The Commission and ISED within two hours. FPT EMOs within 30 minutes. |
The Commission and ISED within two hours. |
| How to provide notification | The Commission and ISED: by the Commission’s outage email using the outage notification form. FPT EMOs: The Commission will share the notification with ISED, who can then notify the relevant FPT EMOs. PSAPs: Through 9-1-1 network providers. |
The Commission and ISED: by the Commission’s outage email using the outage notification form. FPT EMOs: The Commission will share the notification with ISED, who can then notify the relevant FPT EMOs. PSAPs: Through 9-1-1 network providers. |
The Commission and ISED: by the Commission’s outage email using the outage notification form. FPT EMOs: WSPs will notify FPT EMOs through the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination (NAAD) system operator by email or telephone. |
The Commission and ISED: by the Commission’s outage email using the outage notification form. |
Update Requirements
TSPs must submit updates to all required government authorities as soon as possible following a material change in the information provided in the notification. These updates must continue until all required information has been provided, the service outage has ended, and all services have been restored. The final update must include confirmation that the outage has ended.
Post-outage reports
TSPs must submit a post-outage report to the Commission by email no more than 30 days after the major service outage ends and services have been restored. The report must include, at a minimum, the information established by the Commission in this decision.
Attachment 2
Service Outage Notification Form
Important: To notify the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the Commission) of a major service outage, fill in and send this form by email to outage-panne@crtc.gc.ca. You must also email an updated form when you have new or revised information during the outage and when service has been restored.
What notification would you like to submit to the CRTC?
☐ A new outage notification
☐ An update to a previous outage notification
Is the outage resolved and all services restored?
Yes ☐ / No ☐
Note: The information you provide below, from items 1 to 7, will be treated as public. The information in items 8-15 can be designated as confidential.
| # | Required Information | Details | Instructions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name of the TSP | Provide the name of the TSP that is reporting the service outage. | |
| 2 | Services affected |
|
Select the services that are affected by the outage. Check all that apply. |
| 3 | Service areas affected | Provinces / Territories:
Municipality, Region or Community: |
Select the appropriate provinces and territories for the area(s) affected by the outage. Check all that apply. Then in the space provided, identify the region, county, municipality, or community that best represents the service area(s) affected by the outage. |
| 4 | Service outage start date and time |
|
Identify the outage start date and time. Use 24-hour format for the time. |
| 5 | Expected service restoration date and time |
|
Identify the expected service restoration date and time. Use 24-hour format for the time. |
| 6 | Major service outage criteria met |
|
Select the major service outage criteria that triggered a requirement to provide notification. The definitions of these outages can be found in the Submitting Outage Notifications section of this form. Check all that apply. |
| 7 | Communication with affected end-users and stakeholders | End-users: Stakeholders: |
Briefly describe your communications with end-users and stakeholders. Provide a link to the communication web page or channel you are using to keep end-users informed. The stakeholders include key customers of the service in the private and public sectors. |
| Confidentiality: Do you designate information from 8-15 as confidential?Footnote 1 ☐ Yes / ☐ No | |||
| 8 | Contact person | Primary Contact Person
Secondary Contact Person
|
Provide information for a primary and a secondary contact person. |
| 9 | Outage description | Briefly describe the service outage and its impact. | |
| 10 | Cause of the outage | Briefly describe the cause of the outage. | |
| 11 | Networks affected |
|
Select the networks that are affected by the outage. For a 9-1-1 network, select the type(s) of 9-1-1 network affected (Basic, Enhanced, Next Generation 9-1-1). Check all that apply. |
| 12 | Other TSPs affected | List any other TSP(s) whose provision of services rely on your network and who are also affected by the outage, including flanker brands and downstream TSP(s). | |
| 13 | Number of end users affected by the outage |
|
Provide the estimated number of end-users affected by the outage, including the end-users of other TSPs affected by the outage. |
| 14 | Steps taken to restore the services | Briefly describe the steps you have taken to restore services. | |
| 15 | Factors that prevent the restoration of services | List the factors preventing you from repairing the network or restoring service. For example, if you cannot access the site or there is a power outage, etc. | |
Submitting Outage Notifications
Who should report a major service outage:
All carrier and non-carrier TSPs should report major service outages that result from the failure or disruption of network facilities, equipment or systems they operate. TSPs are not required to provide notification of major service outages that result from the failure or disruption of the network facilities, equipment or systems of other TSPs, including any underlying carrier of which the TSP is a customer.
When to provide notification:
TSPs must notify the Commission via the Commission’s outage email (outage-panne@crtc.gc.ca) within two hours after becoming aware of a major service outage.
Definitions of major service outages:
Primary services: Primary services are the telecommunications services used by individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises, including telephone, Internet, cellphone, and data services.
Major primary service outage with 600,000 user-minutes affected: A major primary service outage is defined as a complete loss of a primary service if it lasts a minimum of 30 minutes and results in at least 600,000 user-minutes affected. The number of user-minutes affected is calculated by multiplying the duration of a service outage in minutes by the number of end-users who might be affected. The end-user is the individual, household, or entity assigned an individual wireless or wireline telephone line, broadband connection, or data link. For example, 20,000 end-users affected for 30 minutes will result in 600,000 user-minutes affected.
If a TSP that provides wholesale services to other TSPs experiences a service outage, the TSP must also include the number of affected end-users for its TSP customers.
Note: The number of end-users affected during a mobile service outage should be estimated based on the average number of end-users served by the cell sites affected by the outage.
Major primary service outage with community isolation: A major primary service outage with community isolation is defined as a complete loss of a primary service to a remote, isolated, or rural community if it lasts a minimum of 30 minutes and results in a community isolation event. The availability of satellite telecommunications services covering the community does not preclude community isolation.
Emergency Services: Emergency services include: (i) 9-1-1 services and (ii) wireless public alerting services.
Major 9-1-1 service outage: A major 9-1-1 service outage is an outage that affects only 9-1-1 service. 9-1-1 service outages occur in either the 9-1-1 network operated by the 9-1-1 network providers or in the 9-1-1 service-specific equipment and systems operated by originating network providers. This includes both (i) a full disruption of 9-1-1 services, where 9-1-1 calls or texts are not delivered to the PSAP due to an outage in the 9-1-1 network operated by the 9-1-1 network providers or in the 9-1-1 service-specific equipment and systems operated by originating network providers; and (ii) a partial disruption of 9-1-1 services, where 9-1-1 calls or texts are delivered to the PSAP but the accompanying 9-1-1 information is not delivered to the PSAP. TSPs must notify the Commission of a major 9-1-1 service outage if it lasts a minimum duration of 30 minutes.
Major wireless public alerting outage: A major wireless public alerting service outage is an outage that affects only wireless public alerting service. It occurs when there is an outage in a Wireless Service Provider’s (WSP) network components specific to providing wireless public alerting service, resulting in the WSP being unable to deliver wireless public alerts to end-users. WSPs must notify the Commission of a major wireless public alerting outage if it lasts a minimum duration of 30 minutes.
Specialized services: Specialized services are (i) the TTY and IP relay-based accessibility services used by persons with hearing or speech disabilities, and (ii) the 9-8-8 mental health crisis and suicide prevention service.
Major TTY relay service outage: A major TTY relay service outage is an outage that only affects TTY relay service and lasts for a minimum of 30 minutes. This outage (i) results in a TSP being unable to connect its end-users to TTY relay platforms; or (ii) involves TTY relay platforms that are not functioning, including where they are operated by third-parties contracted by the TSPs.
Major IP relay service outage: A major IP relay service outage is an outage that only affects IP relay service and lasts a minimum of 30 minutes. This outage (i) results in a TSP being unable to connect its end-users to IP relay platforms; or (ii) involves IP relay platforms that are not functioning, including where they are operated by third-parties contracted by the TSPs.
Major 9-8-8 service outage: A major 9-8-8 service outage is an outage that only affects 9-8-8 relay service and lasts a minimum of 30 minutes. This outage results in a TSP being unable to connect its end-users to the 9-8-8 service because of an issue within the TSP’s network.
Note: Emergency and specialized service outages are specific outages to specific services, as defined above. They are not the same as primary service outages. For example, a primary service outage affecting home phone services may affect access to 9-1-1 services, but is not itself a 9-1-1 service outage.
How to provide updates:
To provide updates, please update the notification form and resubmit it to the Commission’s outage email (outage-panne@crtc.gc.ca).
Attachment 3
Post-Outage Report Information
TSPs must submit a post-outage report to the Commission’s outage email (outage-panne@crtc.gc.ca) no more than 30 days after the major service outage ends and services have been restored. TSPs must also submit an abridged or non-confidential version of the post-outage report using My CRTC Account to facilitate publication on the Commission’s website.
The report must include, at a minimum, the following information:
- service outage description;
- service outage start date and time;
- root cause of the service outage (if known);
- network(s) affected;
- services affected, including 9-1-1, wireless public alerting, TTY relay, IP relay, and 9-8-8;
- other TSPs affected;
- service areas affected;
- in the case of community isolation, which community was isolated, including whether it was an Indigenous community;
- number of end-users affected;
- steps taken to restore the service;
- impact of the service outage on affected end-users of telecommunications service(s), including emergency services and specialized services;
- measures implemented or planned, including timelines, to address the cause of the service outage to avoid a similar outage in the future, and to improve reliability and resiliency; and
- an explanation of the lessons learned.
- Date modified: