Not Receiving Emergency Alerts

Have you reviewed the following to confirm it’s enabled for notifications:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202743

Thank you, @Goran!  I tried the steps suggested, but when I go to Notifications there is nothing that says “Government Alerts” to turn on or off.  

I have an iPhone 11 and I also don't have anything under Notifications - but I did receive the alert (just in case you think it is the missing Notification setting as the reason you didn't get the alert). I looked around on my phone, but couldn't find any mention for Government alerts.

Have you updated your iOS to the latest version? 

Is your iPhone 11 set to 3G?

Your phone has to be connected to LTE at the time the emergency alert is issued.

https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/television/services/alert.htm

https://www.alertready.ca/

I think there are essentially 2 issues here.  The first one is that I am unable to get emergency alerts on my iPhone, despite following rigorous problem solving procedures and ensuring that the phone is updated. The Globe & Mail states that 993 alerts have gone out so far this year.  I don’t think I received one.  According to this CBC article from 2022, emergency alerts are only delivered to LTE phones with 4G service. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/expert-sounds-alarm-on-canada-s-emergency-alert-system-1.6449801  One last thing, before anyone points me to Apple support, their “advice” is useless because I don’t have “Government Alerts” under notifications on my iPhone 13 pro, or on the Koodo purchased iPhone 7 I used to own, until it died earlier this month.  

Suggestions?

According to the Alert Ready testing schedule, the next scheduled test for most provinces in Canada (British Columbia to be confirmed) is Wednesday, November 15, 2023. It’s a bit of a wait, but it’s one way to verify the Alert Ready alerting system works on your iPhone.

Testing Schedule | Alert Ready

Side note: Ontario received 252 alerts. I don’t recall receiving all of these alerts unless they were delivered as weather alerts or were specific to a geographic location.

Alert Count | Alert Ready

Users of iPhones and other devices in the US can choose to opt out of government alerts. Some devices sold in Canada allow users to turn off government alerts, but this does not affect the delivery of Alert Ready messages.

Have you made changes to the network settings to enhance signal strength? Switching to 3G will show an increase in signal strength compared to LTE. The option to switch to 3G may not be visible on newer iPhones and defaults to 4G connectivity. If your phone is set to 3G, it will not be able to receive Alert Ready messages.