Inconvenience across the country

Rogers outage affects 911 calls, passport offices and sends droves to coffee shops

Canadians woke up Friday morning to a widespread network outage at Rogers Communications Inc. that left many customers without mobile and internet service and caused trouble for 911 services, debit transactions and even Service Canada’s beleaguered passport offices.

A notice on the Toronto-based telecommunications company’s website said the outage was impacting both its wireless and home service customers and is also affecting phone and chat support.

The company offered no explanation for the outage, its expected length and how many customers were impacted or their whereabouts, but promised technical teams were “working hard to restore services as quickly as possible.”

“On behalf of all of us at Rogers, we sincerely apologize to our customers, and we will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share, including when we expect service to be back up,” said Rogers spokesperson Zac Carreiro, in an email.

“Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.”

Among the most serious impacts of the outage were warnings from police in Toronto and Ottawa, who reported connection problems when Canadians called 911. “If your call fails, please try again, or call from a landline or cellphone with another provider,” Ottawa Police said on Twitter.

The Thunder Bay Police Service even created a temporary 911 email address for residents without landlines who have internet access.

Federal Industry Minister FrancoisPhilippe Champagne said in a statement that the government is monitoring the situation closely and has been in contact with Rogers.

“We expressed how important it is that this matter be resolved as soon as possible and for the company to provide prompt and clear communication directly to those impacted.”

He said the government will use any tools at it disposal to ensure Canadians stay connected and the company meets the high standards Canadians deserve, but did not specify what those tools might be.

For the bulk of Friday morning and into the afternoon, banks, businesses and organizations notified customers that their operations were being impacted by Rogers and delays and service interruptions should be expected.

Many retailers and businesses were also facing trouble when trying to accept payments because Interac, which processes electronic financial transactions, said its online and checkout debit offerings and e-transfer services were impacted. The outage also left Rogers customers scrambling to find internet service, with many heading to coffee shops to connect and trade tales of the outage.