Rogers says it has restored service for ‘vast majority’ of customers

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Rogers Communications says it has restored mobile and internet service for the vast majority of customers after a widespread network outage affected many and caused trouble for 9-1-1 services and debit transactions.

The Toronto-based telecommunications company says some customers may experience delays in regaining full service as its network comes back online and traffic volumes return to normal.

In a statement posted to the company's social media channels, Rogers apologized for the disruption the outage has caused to its customers and said it will be proactively crediting all customers.

The update comes a full day after many Rogers customers across Canada reported losing mobile phone and internet services. The provider eventually confirmed the disruption hours later.

Rogers Outage Map

The following outage map shows the most recent areas in Canada where Rogers users have reported their issues and outages, according to SEO company Criterion Digital.

Here's the latest updates on the Rogers outage:

7 a.m. (Updated)

Rogers shared a statement on Twitter that says it has restored service for vast majority" of customers. Technical teams are working hard to ensure that the remaining customers are back online as quickly as possible," the statement continues.

The company adds that a credit for Rogers users will be automatically applied to their accounts.

12:20 a.m.: We know going a full day without connectivity has real impacts on our customers, and all Canadians," Tony Staffieri, chief executive and president of Rogers, said in an open letter.

On behalf of all of us here at Rogers, Rogers for Business, Fido, Chatr and Cityfone, I want to sincerely apologize for this service interruption and the impact it is having on people from coast to coast to coast."

Staffieri gave no explanation for the outage, its expected length or how many customers were affected, but said Rogers is committed to understanding the cause and would make changes to meet and exceed" expectations in the future.

He added that Rogers would proactively credit all customers, with more information to be made available soon.

I take full responsibility for ensuring we at Rogers earn back your full trust and are once again there to connect you to what matters."

The outage began early Friday morning and stretched into the evening, pushing businesses and organizations to notify customers that their operations were being impacted by Rogers and that delays and service interruptions should be expected.

10:42 p.m. (Updated) Rogers Communications Inc. says it started restoring mobile and internet service late Friday after a widespread network outage left many customers without mobile and internet service and caused trouble for 911 services, debit transactions and even Service Canada's beleaguered passport offices.

Our technical teams are working hard to get everyone back online as quickly as possible," Rogers said in a statement.

As our services and traffic volumes return to normal, we will continue to keep our customers updated."

The Toronto-based telecommunications company offered no explanation for the outage, its expected length or how many customers were affected, but said it would be proactively crediting all customers, with more information to be made available soon.

6:26 p.m.: The Weeknd has postponed his weekend shows in Toronto due to service outages impacting venue operations," according to a tweet from the Toronto Blue Jays' Twitter account. A new date will be shared soon and tickets will be honoured.

We understand how disappointing this is and apologize for the inconvenience," says the tweet.

3:41 p.m. The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre has enacted a code grey" status. This signals an infrastructure failure," according to an RVH spokesperson.

We are fairly lucky and have been able to switch to a backup system," said the spokesperson, who added that RVH is encouraging patients with Rogers to try and make contact with the Centre if they have any upcoming appointments.

We're not as bad off as some hospitals."

2:42 p.m. Green P Parking is experiencing service disruptions as a result of the system outages. At this time, payments for on-street parking and at Green P facilities without gate arms are not required. Parking garages with gate arms are not impacted and payments continue to be required.

2:31 p.m. (updated) Service Canada says the current Rogers outage is affecting some call centres and offices, including passport offices.

Service Ontario says some of its call centres and other operations are also experiencing issues.

2:31 p.m. TDSB Continuing Education is warning students and staff in remote summer settings will transition to asynchronous learning until service is restored.

Should the interruption be restored within a certain time, then we expect that classes can resume for the rest of the day," tweeted the TDSB Continuing Education on Friday.

2:14 p.m. Freedom Mobile tells customers it is in fact experiencing outages in the southern Ontario region. We apologize for any inconvenience caused," tweeted the company.

The Canadian wireless telecommunications provider is owned by Shaw Communications and has customers in mostly urban areas in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.

2:05 p.m. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation says Rogers' network outage is impacting its lottery terminals.

We are monitoring this closely and we appreciate your understanding while they work to restore service," tweeted the OLG.

1:42 p.m. The Calgary Stampede is warning eventgoers that the nationwide network outage is impacting payment at the Stampede, urging people to come prepared with cash or credit."

1:39 p.m. Rogers Communications widespread network outage is affecting some services in Niagara, including radiation therapy appointments for cancer patients and Niagara Region Transit OnDemand service.

Niagara Health said its oncology patients with radiation appointments scheduled for Friday are impacted and its staff will reach out directly to patients to rebook appointments.

Those who require emergency radiation treatment are being redirected to Hamilton Health Sciences.

Read the full story here on the Star.

1:32 p.m. Concert goers are also being warned ahead of shows this weekend to download their mobile tickets while they're still connected to Wi-Fi.

Due to the ongoing Rogers network issues, we recommend those with mobile tickets please add your Keith Urban: The Speed of Now World Tour tickets to your Apple Wallet on iPhone or Google Pay on Android while connected to Wi-Fi in advance of arriving," tweeted Budweiser Stage.

1:28 p.m. Rogers' system disruption continues to impact Interac services. RBC is telling customers that its systems, including some ATM, debit and branch services, have also been impacted by the outages.

There is currently a nationwide telecommunications outage with a network provider which is impacting the availability of some Interac services. Interac Debit is currently unavailable online and at checkout. Interac e-Transfer is also widely unavailable, impacting the ability to send and receive payments," Interac told the Star in an email early Friday.

1:22 p.m. (updated) The Canada-wide Rogers network outage is impacting hospitals well across the province

Mackenzie Health says its internal systems within its hospitals including internet and phone systems are working, but there are several areas that are impacted, including its ability to communicate externally with those on the Rogers network.

The hospital has enacted its internal Incident Management System (IMS) to ensure there is no disruption to patient care and mitigate any disruptions to operations.

Southlake Regional Health Centre says expecting mothers can continue to receive support through its triage telephone line, adding patients unable to reach the hospital due to the Rogers outage may attend the maternity unit to address their health care needs."

The Hospital for Sick Children says the service disruption may affect SickKids' cellular services, urging people to call the hospital's landline instead.

Sunnybrook Hospital says its sites remain open and most services are operational, adding that affected staff, patients, volunteers and visitors are encouraged to use landline phones or cellphones by other providers.

Michael Garron Hospital and Toronto East Health Network, formerly Toronto East General Hospital, said the outage is affecting some hospital communications, including patient appointment reminders.

The hospital remains open the main phone lines are operating as normal, the hospital tweeted Friday, adding in-person appointments will proceed as planned.

However, due to the outage, our COVID-19 Outreach Centre in Thorncliffe Park is closed Friday and Saturday. PCR tests and treatment assessments remain available at the MGH Clinical Assessment Centre.

1:21 p.m. Toronto fire is urging people calling 9-1-1 not to hang up if the call fails, but instead to try calling back from another carrier or landline if possible.

A number of staff cellphones are not working at the present time, this has no material impact on service. Our phones, land lines, and dispatch are functioning properly," Toronto fire told the Star.

1:13 p.m. The Canada Border Services Agency is warning that the Rogers outage could impact travellers.

Due to the current Rogers network outage, travellers may not be able to complete their ArriveCAN submission," said the in a tweet Friday.

For the duration of the outage, impacted travellers will have to submit their information using the Traveller Contact Information Form, which they'll have to complete prior to arrival at the border if they are unable to submit information using the ArriveCAN app or website.

Currently, travellers arriving in Canada must submit mandatory traveller information into ArriveCAN either through the app or the website within 72 hours prior to arrival.

1:08 p.m. Toronto South Court on 70 Centre Avenue told the Star its services have been affected by the Rogers outage and believe many other court buildings have been impacted as well.

Twitter users noted the outage has also impacted some virtual court proceedings, adding the outage means no Zoom court" for some.

12:59 p.m. Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne tweeted a statement about Rogers early Friday afternoon.

Telecommunications are vitally important for Canadians in their day to day life," Champagne said in the statement, adding, we expect those services to meet the high standards that Canadians deserve."

Champagne said his team has been in touch with Rogers and expressed how important it is that the ongoing outage be resolved as soon as possible and for the company to provide prompt and clear communication directly to those impacted."

12:26 p.m. If you're with Rogers, chances are you are struggling like many others across Ontario to stay connected on Friday afternoon.

Here are a few ways you can access free Wi-Fi in Toronto, and other things you can do to stay connected.

Read the full story here on the Star.

12:18 p.m. Bike Share Toronto says the Rogers network outage is affecting its own system, making its stations and bikes inaccessible at this time. As soon as Rogers fixes the issue, we will be back online and ready to get you riding!" Bike Share tweeted Friday.

11:47 a.m. The term Rogers' spiked on Google searches across Canada Friday morning, as the telecom provider's millions of customers took to the search engine for answers amid the ongoing outage. A Google Trends data dashboard showed that Rogers' was being searched more than the combined volumes of terms Canada,' Ontario,' and Toronto.'

Rogers' is also the top trending keyword on Twitter Canada's list on Friday.

11:40 a.m. Toronto Pearson is seeing minor impacts from the Rogers outage, including possible delays with fuel operations. Debit is not currently available in retail shops, said GTAA spokesperson Tori Gass in an email to the Star.

Gass said Pearson's Wi-Fi has not been impacted by the outage, and when asked, said the GTAA has not heard of any issues with ArriveCAN. Passengers at Pearson can connect to the Wi-Fi if they are without cell or internet service, Gass said.

11:37 a.m. The telecom company continues to apologize to customers, with no clear indication about when the outage will be resolved.

On behalf of all of us at Rogers, we sincerely apologize to our customers, and we will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share, including when we expect service to be back up," tweeted Rogers at 11:26 a.m. on Friday, adding the outage is impacting wireline and wireless networks.

11:29 a.m. Rogers customers in Toronto are trying to find ways to deal with the challenges of not having cellphone or internet service. Cameron Doughty, who uses Rogers for his home Wi-Fi and internet, said he'd never seen a Starbucks so packed in my entire life" when he arrived at the College and Dovercourt location this morning. There were people standing outside with their laptops hot spotting into Starbucks," he said.

Doughty, who works for real estate software company BrokerBay, said he had to explain to U.S.-based clients that he was cancelling morning meetings due to a countrywide internet outage," joking his clients probably assumed this guy's just hungover or something."

11:24 a.m. Canadian Blood Service says the Rogers outage is affecting its services and the organization's app. It asks potential donors to call 1-888-2-DONATE to book blood and plasma appointments, and apologized for the inconvenience.

11:11 a.m. There are reports an announcement was made at Friday's NHL draft about the Rogers cellphone outage. Teams are reportedly being instructed to use the hard lines at their draft tables.

10:20 a.m. Hamilton police is asking residents not to test their Rogers cellphone connections by calling emergency responders.

Please do NOT test your phone by calling 9-1-1. This ties up our system for individuals who are in need of emergency assistance," tweeted police Friday.

The police service said it is aware Rogers technical issues may mean residents have trouble connecting.

Our 911 call centre is FULLY operational, Rogers Network callers may have difficulty connecting. If your call connects, STAY on THE LINE," tweeted police. If you can't connect please call back. In the event of an emergency please use a landline or utilize other service providers until Rogers rectifies the issue."

9:30 a.m. Interac confirms its services are also being impacted by Rogers' widespread network issues.

There is currently a nationwide telecommunications outage with a network provider which is impacting the availability of some Interac services. Interac Debit is currently unavailable online and at checkout. Interac e-Transfer is also widely unavailable, impacting the ability to send and receive payments," the company told the Star in an email.

A representative from Moneris, one of Canada's leading payment providers, told the Star that Interac is down as a result of the outage, and is currently working" to address the issue.

8 a.m. Fido Solutions Inc. customers are also reporting outages, with a surge of complaints beginning at around 5 a.m. Friday, according to Downdetector.ca. Fido is a Canadian cellphone provider owned by Rogers Communications Canada.

7:30 a.m. Last year, Rogers suffered a massive wireless outage caused by a software update that left customers without service.

According to Rogers, the root cause" of last year's incident was because of a software update that affected a piece of equipment in the central part of (their) wireless network," leading to intermittent congestion and service impacts."

Rogers has not yet released an update to the cause of Friday's outage.

6:30 a.m. At about 6:30 a.m., Toronto police tweeted city residents using the cell provider might have difficulty calling 9-1-1.

6 a.m. Search engine optimization company Criterion Digital's service tracker shows outages across the country, including in the GTA, Ottawa, Montreal and southern B.C.

Ookla's service disruption tracker Downdetector.ca says customers began reporting problems with both cell and internet service early Friday, and by 7 a.m. more than 20,000 reports had been file.

6 a.m. Customer service representatives for the cell provider said customers can use Rogers' automated online chat to see if there is an outage in their area.

With files from the Canadian Press

Isaac Phan Nay is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Reach him via email: iphannay@thestar.ca