The BC RCMP announced Thursday that the Next Generation 911 (NG9-1-1) will begin its rollout in the next week across British Columbia, led by E-Comm 9-1-1. 

The change to NG9-1-1 was federally mandated to replace old infrastructure and move forward to faster and more options for communication in emergencies. 

RCMP state that with the rollout, the only initial difference people will notice is a new automated callback system for calls that are disconnected or abandoned. These calls are operated by E-Comm. 

The migration starts on Oct. 26 at BC RCMP Headquarters in Surrey and at the RCMP Island District in Courtenay, which provides air/marine/traffic units across Vancouver Island.

The RCMP announced that NG9-1-1 will eventually be able to allow people reporting emergencies to use text capabilities and share streaming video. These features are not expected for several years though. 

“The transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 is a critical step in modernizing how emergency calls are received and managed in British Columbia,” says Nancy Blair, Interim President & CEO of E-Comm. 

“This work strengthens the reliability of our 9-1-1 system today, while laying the groundwork for future technologies that will better support both the public and first responders.”

The provincial government provided $150 million to start the progression of NG9-1-1. The funding was announced in 2023.