NWT alerts are only issued for unusual, immediate dangers to the public. The decision to send a public emergency alert rests with the local, regional, provincial, territorial or federal authority. In some instances, the authorities choose to alert the public through local radio and TV channels, or online instead of through the NWT Alert web app. We suggest you contact the responsible authority to find out why they did not send the alert that you were expecting to receive.

The only types of alerts from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) that appear in the NWT Alert web app are weather watches and warnings, not weather statements.

The decision to issue an alert rests with the local, regional, provincial, territorial and federal authorities. If you are not sure that there was an alert issued by the authorities, follow these steps: 

• Go to the NWT Alert website at http://www.nwtalert.ca/
• Click on Archive > Calendar and select the date you believe there was an alert issued

If the alert you are looking for is not displayed in the “Past alerts for displayed map area” it means the authorities issued no alert. If you know there was an alert sent but you did not get it on the NWT Alert web app:

• Check the Locations (Favourites) you have selected to receive notifications for.

I received an Earthquake alert that already happened at a location that’s not relevant to me. These alerts come from a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program public feed. Some events in remote areas may not be distributed until 24 hours after their occurrence. Additionally, USGS processing and publishing may take up to 30 minutes.

Currently, the NWT Alert web app is only available for locations within Northwest Territories.

Click on the Archive Button, and use the calendar view to select the date you want to check if an alert was issued.

Use the Filter button and select the type of alerts to be listed on the Alerts for Displayed map area. Click on the Filter button Under Alert type, select from the main category (Health, Natural, Weather) the alerts to be filtered out

Use the Favourites Button and select the Northwest Territories locations you’d like to see every time you visit the site.

Click on the Left arrow located on the top left corner of the Alert description area. When on the main screen, you can also click on the Reset button in the map.

You must have an active network or Wi-Fi connection to receive an alert. If you do not have an active or strong enough connection when an alert is sent, the alert will be queued for a limited time and be sent to you once your device is connected. Examples of offline situations include: No Network connection (Computer) the device being in airplane mode (cellphone) you have your cellular or Wi-Fi turned off you are out of range of a local cellular tower or Wi-Fi base station you are in a dead zone where the cellular or Wi-Fi signal is impeded

The NWT Alert web app is designed to show the alerts for a particular area as you pan or zoom in/out the map. Only alerts for the viewable area on the map will show in the list.

The NWT Alert web app is designed to only allow you to add locations within Northwest Territories.

The locations that you can choose in the NWT Alert web app are official regional boundaries defined by the Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) codes from Statistics Canada. If you cannot find a specific location, try searching for the larger municipality.

1. Click on the Favourites button
2. On the “City, Town…” field start typing the name of the location you would like to add
3. Choose the location from the list of results that appears below the search bar
4. Click Add

You can continue adding more locations (Favourites) following those steps.