Amber Alert in Canada: active alerts, how they work and what to do

What an Amber Alert is

An Amber Alert is an urgent bulletin that police send when they believe a child has been abducted and is in danger of serious harm or death. Police, broadcasters, transport agencies and wireless providers work together to put a description of the child, the suspect and any vehicle in front of as many people as possible, as fast as possible.

There is no single national program. All 10 provinces run their own, led by police; the three territories have none. The RCMP’s national centre for missing persons coordinates a national working group of the provincial coordinators.

The criteria police use

Each province sets its own criteria, but they follow the same model. In Quebec, for example, all three conditions must be met at once, without exception:

• Police have reasonable grounds to believe a child under 18 has been abducted.
• The circumstances show the child is in danger of serious physical injury or death.
• Police have enough description of the child, the suspect or the vehicle for a broadcast to help find the child.
• Alberta adds a fourth condition (a reasonable expectation the child can be returned or the abductor caught) and also covers adults with a proven mental or physical disability.
• In B.C., an alert is not meant for parental abductions unless the child’s life is in danger.

Who issues an alert in each province

• Quebec: only the Sûreté du Québec, or the SPVM on the island of Montreal, can activate an alert (criteria).
• Ontario: the OPP runs the program and issues an alert at the request of any police service in the province.
• British Columbia: police in B.C. with the RCMP, the Ministry of Transportation, broadcasters and Child Find BC (program).
• Alberta: local police services and the RCMP (alerts).
• Other provinces: the RCMP or the provincial police leads, with local services. Territories have no program; police there use missing-person releases and the media.

Why your phone got the alert

Since April 2018, Amber Alerts are sent through Alert Ready, Canada’s public alerting system, to TV, radio and compatible phones on LTE or 5G networks in the area police choose. Phone alerts are cell broadcasts, not text messages: they do not use your number or track who got them.

Alert Ready says you cannot opt out of these alerts. A phone that is off, on Wi-Fi only, in airplane mode or outside the alert area may not receive one.

What to do when you get an Amber Alert

• If you are driving, pull over safely before you read it.
• Read the whole alert: the child, the suspect and the vehicle, especially the licence plate.
• If you see them, call 911 right away and say where you are and which way they went.
• Do not approach or follow the suspect.
• Do not call 911 to ask about the alert or complain about it; that blocks real sightings.
• Share only official updates and watch for the alert being cancelled.

How many children are abducted in Canada?

Police reported 372 abduction incidents in Canada in 2025, a rate of 0.89 per 100,000 people, down from 405 in 2024. Quebec had the most incidents (161). Abduction here means the Criminal Code offences in sections 280 to 283, including a parent who takes a child in breach of a custody order; kidnapping is counted separately. Very few of these cases lead to an Amber Alert.

Taking a child under 16 from their parent without lawful authority is punishable by up to 5 years; a parent or guardian who takes a child under 14 to deprive the other parent, with or without a custody order, faces up to 10 years. See abduction of a child under 14 and abduction of a child under 16.

Timeline

1. 1996

   The AMBER Alert is created in Texas, in memory of a nine-year-old girl, Amber Hagerman, abducted and killed in Arlington.

2. December 2, 2002

   Alberta launches the first province-wide Amber Alert program in Canada.

3. May 2003

   Quebec becomes the fourth province with a program, after Alberta, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.

4. May 25, 2004

   Nova Scotia launches its program; by 2004 every province has one.

5. April 6, 2018

   Wireless public alerting starts: Amber Alerts now reach compatible cellphones through Alert Ready.

6. 2025

   Police report 372 abduction incidents in Canada (0.89 per 100,000 people), most of which never meet the Amber Alert criteria.