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TORONTO — Thousands of Canadians were left without internet and mobile connectivity on Wednesday morning as major telecom providers Bell Canada, Rogers, and Telus experienced significant service disruptions.
According to outage tracking site Downdetector, reports of widespread connectivity issues began flooding in just after sunrise, with Bell Canada users hit the hardest. By 9:30 a.m. EDT, more than 130,000 complaints had been logged.
Among those affected:
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61% reported issues with landline internet
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11% faced disruptions in mobile data
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28% reported a total service blackout
Bell acknowledged the interruption in a statement shared on social media, confirming that customers in Ontario and Quebec may be impacted.
“We are working to restore service as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience,” Bell Support wrote.
Rogers: “No Known Outages” Amid Complaints
By 9:46 a.m., over 5,000 users had reported issues with Rogers services. The breakdown mirrored Bell’s, with:
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57% citing landline internet problems
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29% mobile internet disruptions
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14% experiencing a complete loss of service
Despite the spike in reports, RogersHelps stated at 9:36 a.m. that no widespread outage had been detected.
CTV News has reached out to Rogers for further clarification.
Telus Acknowledges Disruption in Eastern Canada
Telus also saw a surge in complaints, with approximately 2,500 users affected.
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32% reported no mobile signal
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22% experienced mobile internet problems
The company’s online service tracker confirmed an active outage in Eastern Canada, stating:
“We apologize, TELUS Services are currently experiencing a disruption. The cause is under investigation.”
911 Misuse Prompts Warning from Police
Amid the outage, the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario issued an urgent advisory, asking residents not to call 911 to check if their phones were working.
“Our 911 centre is experiencing an increase in call volume. Please don’t call 911 to test your phone,” the department wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Ongoing Investigation
The cause of the outages remains unclear, and telecom providers have yet to provide full explanations. The incident highlights ongoing concerns about infrastructure resiliency and emergency response readiness tied to telecommunications failures.
This is a developing story. More updates will follow as information becomes available.
Note: BNN Bloomberg, CTV News, and CP24 are owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE, the parent company of Bell Canada.
