A global technology outage that’s grounded flights and delayed border crossings is also challenging health-care services in the country, as issues with Microsoft services persist.
According to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, the problem was caused by a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows – which was neither a security incident nor a cyberattack – and has affected Microsoft 365 apps and services.
The outage has affected companies such as Porter Airlines, Telus and TD Bank.
In a statement provided to CTVNews.ca, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) said it is aware of the outage affecting CrowdStrike and Microsoft, and has issued an alert on the topic.
“At this time, this does not appear to be a cyber security incident. We want to reassure Canadians that we are working with Government of Canada partners to access any potential impacts this may have. We also continue to work with the Government of Canada and industry stakeholders to share information and ensure cyber security resilience in Canada’s critical infrastructure sectors,” it states.
“As noted in our Alert, affected organizations should exercise caution and engage only with trusted sources to avoid further, more serious, issues. As always, the Cyber Centre recommends organizations reinforce to employees to only trust (recommended) organizations reinforce to employees to only trust recommended sources and to not click on untrusted for questionable links.”
In addition, a number of health-care services across the country are impacted.
In a post to X, Health Minister Mark Holland said the federal government is aware of the outage and monitoring the situation.
However, it says that NL Health Services has implemented contingency plans, and is focused on delivering emergency care while the issue gets resolved.
New Brunswick’s two health authorities, along with Prince Edward Island, have reported no issues since the outage.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority says it is monitoring the situation with its partners in Cyber Security and Digital Solutions. However, it is not seeing “significant impacts,” and patient care is not affected.
Quebec
Hospitals in Quebec, including the McGill University Hospital Centre, Centre hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal and Lakeshore General Hospital have confirmed that they have been unaffected by the system outage.
Ontario
The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa has been affected by the outage, and is “providing services as planned using workaround where needed,” but says it does not anticipate its services will be impacted.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto has been affected, but says that clinical activity is continuing.
North York General Hospital said the outage is impacting some of its systems. Clinical activity is continuing as scheduled but delays are possible, the hospital warned.
Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) originally confirmed that the outage was impacting some of its systems. “Clinical activity is continuing as scheduled, but some patients may experience delays,” UHN wrote on social media. It has since stated that issues have been resolved.
The Prairies
A spokesperson for Shared Health Manitoba, the province’s health authority, said its system is not impacted by the outage since it uses a different provider for cybersecurity. However, it expects heavier outpatient traffic at hospital labs due to the closure of Dynacare lab locations in Manitoba.
“No patient needing a blood lab will be turned away as long as they have a valid requisition form, but they are cautioned that wait times may be longer due to the increased traffic and the need for lab staff to prioritize our hospital-based patients,” the spokesperson said in a statement provided to CTV News Winnipeg.
Saskatchewan’s HealthLine 811 was originally affected by the outage but has since been restored, according to the health authority’s post to social media.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) said while the outage did not directly impact patient care, it did affect a partner used for EMS dispatch.
“AHS has robust workarounds allowing dispatch to continue while a patch was implemented. The patch worked immediately, and this issue was resolved early this morning,” the authority said in a statement.
“Additionally, our physician dictation system has been experiencing some issues as a result of the CloudStrike issue. This does not impact patient care; physicians will modify their note entry method.”
British Columbia
More than 50,000 electronic devices across the province’s health ministry, including 30,000 on the B.C. mainland and 20,000 on Vancouver Island, have been affected by the outage, according to Health Minister Adrian Dix.
The province’s five regional health authorities issued statements saying the outage was “impacting our networks and computers across all systems.”
The health authorities said contingency plans were in place to ensure hospitals and other health-care services remain open, and “that patient care is not disrupted to the best of our ability.”
The statements urged patients not to call hospital switchboards until the problem is resolved.
Sources tell CTV News Vancouver the issue started late Thursday night, and affected the ability of some health-care providers to treat patients.
“If you have any questions on a health-care appointment today, please call your health-care providers,” the statement from the health authorities says. “Our primary concern is the continuity and quality of patient care.”
Northwest Territories
In a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) said it has not been affected, as it does not have the software targeted in the outage.
“The NTHSSA will continue to monitor the situation for any changes that may arise following impacts to any partners and/or vendors that may have been affected.”
With files from CP24’s Codi Wilson, CTVNewsWinnipeg’s Charles Lefebvre, CTV’s Rory MacLean, CTVNewsVancouver Todd Coyne and The Canadian Press