Next Generation 911

The 911 Division strives to provide our province with the best in 911 service and technology.  We are currently planning to enhance the existing Basic 911 system to a Next Generation (NG911) system. The current Basic 911 service does not provide any information of the caller (phone number/location) automatically to the 911 Call Taker. A callers location must be provided by the caller, a call trace or through location identification tools for cellular callers. 

A NG911 service will automatically display to the 911 Call Taker the caller’s location (home address or x/y coordinates) and the associated information, such as the caller’s phone number. Other NG911 services, such as the delivery of photos and video from callers, are expected to follow in subsequent years based on industry working group recommendations and 911 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) ability to support them. Additional benefits of a NG911 service include the ability for 911 to transfer all location information received automatically to other NG911 capable dispatching centers, assisting with their emergency response coordination and dispatch.

In order to implement a NG911 service for Newfoundland and Labrador, the 911 Division needs to ensure the technical infrastructure, telecommunications data, mapping requirements and civic addressing data are in place. 

Current timelines for NG911 service capability in Newfoundland and Labrador are pending on industry working groups identifying the ability for NG911 service to operate in areas that do not have civic addressing. As the 911 Division operates a province-wide 911 service, the NG911 service functionality in Newfoundland and Labrador must accommodate areas that do not have civic addressing. Once determined, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will require telecommunications service providers to be ready to offer NG911 voice service (911 calls delivered over IP networks) to 911 PSAPs by an established timeline.  

The 911 Division is working hard to ensure all requirements are in place in order to launch the NG911 service when it becomes available.

In order for a community to avail of the NG911 service once it becomes available, the 911 Division will require their civic address data.  This data can be provided to the 911 Division as an existing GIS file or, if the community does not have a GIS file, then the 911 Division will supply a map to be filled in with the corresponding civic numbers and street names. 

For those communities who do not have a GIS file, the 911 Division will send a package including:

• Introduction letter with the information about the project and why we are requesting civic addressing data.

• The maps which are simple black and white drawings of the community.  

• An instruction booklet on how to capture the data needed.

• A hardcopy spreadsheet to record the data. (You can create your own digital copy to email to the 911 Division but the corresponding maps with the civic numbers identified will still need to be returned to the 911 Division.) 

Basic 911 service will continue to be available to all communities until their civic address data is provided to the 911 Division and updated in the NG911 database.

For more information on civic addressing requirements from municipalities, please see FAQ’s