As we head into summer, Canadians across the country are bracing for what could be another intense wildfire season. So too are the country’s first responders, who will once again be working day and night to keep citizens and the country’s forests safe. While firefighters and other emergency personnel have many tools needed for the job, there is one area that needs improvement: wireless communications.
According to a 2022 Public Safety Canada report, the country’s emergency response system has potentially hazardous shortcomings that could make a tough situation worse. Most notably, Canada’s first responders rely largely on legacy land mobile radio (LMR) networks – walkie-talkies – and for data connectivity they tap into commercial cellular networks without any specialized security or prioritization. ‘‘This effectively creates communication silos that make coordination a significant challenge,’' according to the report.
Of course, issues with public safety communication and information sharing are not limited to emergencies, but the challenges are most acute in a rapidly shifting crisis. Staging an effective response depends upon co-ordinating multiple agencies and their personnel, as well as gathering real-time intelligence on conditions in the field. In contrast with multiple G20 countries, including the United States, Canada has no broadband communication network dedicated to sharing vital public safety information.
‘‘It becomes a patchwork quilt of different technologies with varying capabilities’' says Yasir Hussain, CTO at Ericsson Canada. ‘‘First responders often have one device for voice, a different device for data communication, and tertiary devices such as drones or wearables for health/safety monitoring; they’re not compatible with each other. Agencies can’t share data with one another because they’re on isolated systems. This makes it cumbersome in the field and challenging to react to potential emergency situations.’’
In the wake of recent public emergencies – the Fort McMurray wildfires, the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting, Hurricane Fiona, and others – a consistent theme has emerged: the need for better first responder communication. ‘‘Canada’s public safety community continues to face significant interoperability challenges, and emergency responders face challenges leveraging data and technology in (the) field, impeding the effectiveness of emergency operations,’' reads a Public Safety Canada parliamentary committee note from March 2024.
Better crisis connectivity
Canadian officials have identified a solution, at least in concept: the creation of a public safety broadband network (PSBN). This secure, high-speed mobile network would provide first responders and public safety personnel with a dedicated means of communicating with each other and sharing operational information. Similar to what Canadians already experience over 4G and 5G networks, the PSBN would enable high-definition audio, text messaging, real-time monitoring, interactive mapping, video streaming, and data and file sharing – all capabilities not available with current LMR networks. Crucially, a PSBN would offer a standardized mission critical delivery of services with enhanced ‘‘security, reliability and guaranteed access,’' according to recommendations in the 2022 public safety report. Standardizing and expanding mobile network access could dramatically improve the tools available for the daily operations of public safety personnel and emergency responders, including many underfunded Canadian search and rescue units run by volunteers, says Hussain.
Learning from global peers
Similar types of PSBNs (Public Safety Broadband Network) are already in operation or will be soon in multiple countries around the globe, including the U.S., Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Finland. In the U.S., based on recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, the federal Department of Commerce formed a public partnership with AT&T to operate what it calls FirstNet Authority, which covers 3 million square miles, about 250,000 miles more than commercial networks.
Canada could adopt many aspects of the U.S. approach. ‘‘FirstNet is the largest in scope and size,’' says Hussain, ‘‘and it shares almost everything Canada would need in terms of requirements for scalability, reliability, and standardization around users and use cases.’' Aligning to FirstNet technology and capabilities would also ensure emergency response teams from both countries can bring their tech and personnel across the border, and Canadian agencies would get access to a wider array of technology products at lower cost.
But Australia could also provide a model to follow, in that it works with multiple service providers for complete network coverage across a large, sometimes sparsely populated geography. ‘‘Some service providers may have strengths and coverage in certain areas over others,’' says Hussain. ‘‘You also have an element of shared responsibility, and a built-in redundancy should an outage happen. We need this in Canada.’' Most first responders work is carried out in urban areas where multiple such mobile 5G networks exist and overlap, providing aggregate capacity
To reach deeper into regions with minimal cell coverage, a Canadian PSBN could also make use of satellites or critical infrastructure along private rail lines or utilities. ‘‘If there’s an emergency where no service provider has coverage, the public safety system could automatically connect to a portion of a compatible private mobile communications network,’' says Hussain. ‘‘In a country the size of Canada, you need to look at multiple providers and then some adjacent technologies to fill in the gaps. Dependency on just one public company to provide this service is unrealistic. It takes collaboration to address public safety.’'
Making the call
Despite the roadmap provided in 2022, progress on critical PSBN infrastructure appears to have stalled. Last summer, while wildfires raged across the country, federal and provincial ministers discussed the PSBN during a virtual meeting about multiple cross-jurisdictional emergency management issues, and the federal government affirmed its commitment to establishing a new agency to push the idea forward.
Now as a new wildfire season starts, it is time to prioritize the conversation to keep Canadians safe in the field and in the line of fire.
This editorial is independent of the journalists at BNN Bloomberg.
