Bell users experience widespread outage across Ontario, Quebec

After users in Ontario and Quebec reported a widespread outage of Bell Canada's services this morning, the company said it's working to restore the system.

Data from DownDetector, an outage tracker, showed that complaints spiked around 9:30 a.m. ET, with more than 133,000 reports made. Most of the reports cited issues with landline and mobile internet connections.

By 10 a.m. ET, the number of complaints had dropped to 41,000.

Bell Canada acknowledged in a message on its Facebook page that "some customers in Ontario and Quebec may be experiencing an internet service interruption."

"We are working to restore service as quickly as possible," the statement said. "Thank you for your patience."

CBC News reached out to Bell requesting more information. A representative for the company said that the network is investigating and that they will share updates as soon as possible.

The representative said users can also look for updates on the company's X feed.

The DownDetector map shows that some outages are being reported across Atlantic Canada. Bell Aliant, a subsidiary that operates in the Atlantic provinces, doesn't appear to be having the same issues as the wider network.

After a massive Rogers outage left 12 million people without internet service in 2022, Canada's telecom regulator set new rules requiring companies to report major outages and interruptions within two hours.

More than a dozen Canadian telecoms — including Bell, Rogers and Telus — signed a memorandum of understanding that year, pledging to work together to provide emergency roaming, mutual assistance and communications with the public and the government during an outage or other "impactful disaster."

More to come.