Residents across Canada can expect a loud surprise next week when the Alert Ready emergency alert system conducts a nationwide test, and here's what Ontario residents need to know.

Test alerts will ring across televisions, radios, and mobile devices in 11 of the 13 Canadian provinces and territories on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 (Alberta and Quebec being the outliers, as usual) at different times throughout the day.

Ontario's test is scheduled to aggressively blare through the speakers of devices at 12:55 p.m. local time, promising a noisy end to the mid-week lunch rush.

Hey Canada, mark your calendars for May 10th🗓️! @AlertReady will be conducting tests across most provinces & territories to ensure our system’s readiness in the case of an actual emergency. 🚨

Check the schedule here- https://t.co/nopJwwkXRJ#AlertReadyTest pic.twitter.com/I31vLYHCpB

— Alert Ready (@AlertReady) May 3, 2023

The routine test may come as a shock for those who don't get the memo, especially in light of current global events and threats of escalation in Russia's protracted invasion of Ukraine.

On May 10, there will be a routine test of the@AlertReady emergency alerting system. The test message will be distributed over TV, radio and compatible wireless devices and will occur at 12:55 p.m. EDT.

Visit https://t.co/3YAgVA6Eh0 for more information.#PreparedON pic.twitter.com/f27c6urkoN

— Ontario Warnings (@OntarioWarnings) May 3, 2023

The most recent Alert Ready test in Ontario back in November 2022 happened amid similar fears of a major escalation in Ukraine, and several people in the province reacted to the test in initial terror before making sense of what was actually happening.

Ontario tests emergency alert system and people assumed nukes were flying https://t.co/E5dhasJazB #Ontario

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 16, 2022

Even when there isn't a regional conflict threatening to spill over into the wider world, a share of people will always just get generally freaked out by the sudden deafening tone and ominous implications of the national alert system in action.

Emergency alert system test scares and delights #Toronto https://t.co/OUxQWXbciM #EmergencyAlert #AlertReady pic.twitter.com/wu9xHcxAib

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 28, 2018

Granted, unease with the tests is easy to understand, given what the piercing alert tone would mean in an actual emergency.

This is the same tone that the public would hear en masse in the event of all sorts of disasters and cataclysms, including large-scale fires, biological and radiological threats, explosives hazards, natural disasters like tornadoes, volcanoes and meteorite impacts, as well as terrorist threats and even nuclear strikes.