Photo Credit: Regional District of Fraser-Fort George

By Sam Bennison

Emergency services

Local organization taking over 9-1-1 calls in 2026

Jan 22, 2025 | 1:52 PM

PRINCE GEORGE— 9-1-1 calls will be received by a local organization starting in 2026. Fraser-Fort George 9-1-1, a service provided by the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, will be answering emergency calls for Bulkley-Nechako, Cariboo, Kitimat-Stikine and Fraser-Fort George.

The regional district had a contract with Vancouver-based Emergency Communications for BC Inc. (E-Comm) to answer 9-1-1 calls since 2014. However, the regional cites rising service costs and job creation as reasons for bringing the service back to the region.

“As our 9-1-1 call answer costs continued to increase, we needed to identify a more financially sustainable option for our residents,” says Margo Wagner, Chair of the Cariboo Regional District.

“Bringing the 9-1-1 call answering service back to north central BC will create new job opportunities and economically benefit the region,” says Mark Parker, Chair of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.

Last year, a total of 104,476 9-1-1 calls were made in the regional districts. That breaks down to: 47,671 calls in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, 23,013 in the Cariboo Regional District,19,591 in the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, and 14,201 in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.

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“Fraser-Fort George 9-1-1 will provide our partner regional districts with a more autonomous 9-1-1 call answer service that can respond to the needs of northern communities and residents,” says Lara Beckett, Chair of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George.

When Fraser-Fort George 9-1-1 takes over calls will continue to be transferred to the same dispatch centres as under E-Comm. Calls for police are dispatched by the RCMP Operational Communications Centre in Prince George. Fire and rescue service calls will be dispatched by the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George’s Fire Operations Communications Centre in Prince George. Lastly, calls for ambulance services are dispatched by the BC Ambulance Service in Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops.

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Email: sam.bennison@pattisonmedia.com