Municipalities have a little over a year before they are required to switch over to an upgraded 911 system. Photo credit: Twitter/HPS Paramedics
The City of Hamilton is in the process of allocating $31.7 million for upgrades to three buildings to accommodate upgrades to the city’s 911 dispatching system.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has stipulated that municipalities must switch over to an upgraded 911 system in March 2024. Bell Canada handles all of Ontario’s systems and will be facilitating the switch.
As such, the City of Hamilton must prepare for the change by ensuring that there is enough space in the municipal buildings that handle 911 calls.
Currently, the Central Police Station on King William Street serves as the police’s dispatch hub, while fire calls are dealt with at the Multi Agency Training Centre (MATC) on Stone Church Road East.
Hamilton’s paramedic 911 calls are overseen by the Ontario Government and go to a building on Fennell Avenue West close to St. Joseph’s West 5th campus. The province will be upgrading its technology separately.
In order to accommodate the space needed for the new system, the city will need to expand fire and police dispatching to a three-site operation.
This includes adding the Stoney Creek Municipal Service Centre on Highway 8 into the mix, which will require the construction of data centres and offices at the site. Revamping the Central Police Station and making changes at the MATC will also be needed.
The new Next Generation 911 (NG911) technology will replace the current voice analogue-based system.
NG911 is based on an Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) operating on an Internet Protocol (IP) platform to serve as a national IP-enabled emergency network.
This platform enhances emergency number services and will allow voice, photos, videos and text messages to flow seamlessly from the public to and across the 911 network.
As for the Hamilton-specific building upgrades, staff will be reporting back to Council on the entire project as the city continues capital budget deliberations over the next few weeks.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
