E-Comm is where your 9-1-1 call comes if you live in Metro Vancouver and other regional districts and communities spanning from Vancouver Island to the Alberta border and U.S. border to north of Prince George. E-Comm also provides emergency dispatch services for 33 police agencies and 40 fire departments in B.C.
Regional Districts contract the 9-1-1 service to E-Comm. They fund the service through property taxes and other methods such as call-answer levies. E-Comm is responsible for answering 99 per cent of 9-1-1 calls made throughout the province of B.C. and provides this 9-1-1 call-answer service within the regional districts of:
| Alberni-Clayoquot | East Kootenay | Okanagan-Similkameen |
| Bulkley-Nechako | Fraser-Fort George | Peace River |
| Capital | Fraser Valley | qathet (Powell River) |
| Cariboo | Kitimat-Stikine | Squamish-Lillooet |
| Central Kootenay (excludes Nelson) | Kootenay-Boundary | Strathcona |
| Central Okanagan | Metro Vancouver | Sunshine Coast |
| Columbia-Shuswap | Mount Waddington | Thompson-Nicola |
| Comox Valley | Nanaimo | |
| Cowichan Valley | North Okanagan |
- This map shows where E-Comm is the Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) for B.C. communities.
Do you need police, fire or ambulance?
When a caller dials 9-1-1, the E-Comm call taker asks, “do you need police, fire or ambulance?” The call taker will also confirm for which municipality. E-Comm’s job is to then connect the caller as quickly as possible to the agency the caller has requested. The E-Comm call taker will remain on the line with the caller until the agency answers. The entire process typically takes less than a minute.
- Find out more about how 9-1-1 works.
If a caller is unsure of what service they need, the E-Comm 9-1-1 call taker is trained to ask a few brief questions to help determine which agency is required and will connect the caller accordingly. Once connected to the agency, the dispatcher can, at any time, also contact other agencies to assist with response. For example, if the BC Emergency Health Services receives a call where police presence is required, they will contact the appropriate department/detachment for assistance.
On average, E-Comm is responsible for 5,700+ 9-1-1 calls per day. E-Comm’s 2023 9-1-1 call volume was more than 2.3 million calls. E-Comm does not dispatch ambulances in B.C. That service is provided by BC Emergency Health Services.