Bell outage hits 911 and police lines in N.L.

A widespread Bell Aliant phone outage on Oct. 14 left some customers in Newfoundland and Labrador unable to place voice calls, including to 911, before service was restored, Bell and the RCMP said.

Bell said some customers could not make voice calls, including 911, and that it was working to restore service. The RCMP in Newfoundland and Labrador said the outage affected its telephone services, including its non-emergency line and some 911 calls. Bell’s outage help page is at support.bell.ca.

Developing. Updated Oct. 15, 2026: Bell said it is monitoring its network to confirm all services have fully returned.

The RCMP said people who needed police help during the outage could call 709-693-6271 to reach its Operational Communications Centre. The force said officers remained on patrol and available to respond to calls for service. It said the cause of the outage was under investigation.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said its non-emergency reporting line was unavailable during the disruption. The force said it knew of no impact on 911, and that people could still file non-emergency complaints online.

Bell told people who needed emergency help to go directly to the nearest fire station, police station or hospital emergency department. The company later said wireless customers could place 911 calls again. It then said service had been restored for voice-call customers, including 911, and directed anyone still having problems to its support site.

VOCM reported on Oct. 15 that the outage was provincewide and that operations were restored within a few hours. Bell told the station it was keeping an eye on its systems to confirm all services had fully returned.

Bell has not said what caused the outage. The sources reviewed for this report did not give exact start and end times, the communities hit hardest, or how many 911 calls failed to connect. The RCMP said the cause remains under investigation, and Canada News Media will update this report if the company or police release more details.

Outages that take down 911 are treated seriously by regulators and emergency services because callers may not be able to reach help. In a past case, CBC News reported that Newfoundland and Labrador lost 911 and other emergency phone lines for about 3.5 hours overnight. Bell’s advice this week, to go in person to a fire hall, police station or hospital if a call will not connect, is the standard fallback in such cases.

Residents who tried to reach emergency services during the outage and could not get through can report the problem to Bell and to their local police force, which may help investigators work out how many calls were affected.

The outage was trending in Google searches in Canada on Oct. 15. The report draws on NTV News, VOCM and CBC News coverage of the outage, along with statements from Bell, the RCMP and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary as relayed by those outlets.

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Sources: NTV News, VOCM, CBC News.