Updates from E-Comm 9-1-1 | 911 in British Columbia

January 2026 Update

We’re pleased to share our monthly update highlighting key activities at E-Comm as we enhance our services for first responder partners and the public. View the PDF version of this update here.

All service levels met or exceeded in 2025

E-Comm achieved all its service level targets in 2025 for 9-1-1, police and fire emergency, and non-emergency call-taking. Investments in stabilizing staffing levels and improving retention over the past several years, combined with lower than forecast 9-1-1 call volumes were contributing factors.

Decrease in emergency calls, increase in non-emergency calls

9-1-1 (-2%), police (-2%) and fire emergency (-4%) calls all saw decreases in volumes in 2025 compared to 2024. Police non-emergency volumes increased +3% on Vancouver Island and +7.5% on Lower Mainland, due in part to three police agencies returning full-time non-emergency services to E-Comm in 2025.

Continued high reliability, stability of wide-area radio network

59 million+ radio transmissions were made with the 15,325 radios on E-Comm’s network in 2025 with an extremely high network availability (+99.99%). E-Comm’s Wireless team will be completing a systems upgrade this month, part of ongoing work with the radio vendor to ensure supportability and proper maintenance of radio infrastructure.

Action Plan: Key priorities identified for implementation

E-Comm has identified the highest-priority deliverables to achieve in 2026 in response to 26 recommendations outlined in EY’s report. We recognize the urgency of implementing the recommendations and will provide monthly progress updates on these priorities, which include:

- Financial management – Strengthening confidence in E-Comm’s financial management and the value of its consolidated model by containing costs, enhancing financial predictability and transparency and aligning costs and pricing with services delivered;
- Operations resiliency and service excellence – Strengthen operational and critical systems resiliency to ensure delivery of consistent, high-quality emergency communications services;
- Stakeholder trust and partnership – Rebuild stakeholder trust in E-Comm as a client-centric, trusted partner and leading provider of public safety communications in B.C.

2026 Levies

E-Comm communicated 2026 levies to partners in December. The levies were much lower than preliminary ranges, made possible by lower than forecast call volumes in 2025; reduced spending on corporate projects; and ongoing efficiency and cost-control measures.

Next Generation 9-1-1 implementation

As a result of technical issues deemed critical for a safe and reliable launch, the previously planned January 2026 implementation launch of NG9-1-1 has been postponed until there is full confidence in the technical stability of the system. E-Comm is confident the transition will be completed within the provincial NG9-1-1 budget and ahead of the CRTC’s March 31, 2027 deadline for the national rollout.

VP of Operations Stephen Thatcher announces departure

After a 5-year tenure as E-Comm’s vice-president of Operations and a 29-year career in policing, Stephen Thatcher will be leaving E-Comm at the end of February for a part-time contract opportunity. We wish Stephen the very best in his new chapter; his kind and compassionate leadership will be greatly missed. We are completing a full transition plan to ensure the continuity of key projects and priorities.