E-Comm, the company responsible for handling 99 per cent of B.C.’s 911 calls, is reminding residents to use the emergency number responsibly as it releases its list of the worst calls it received throughout 2025.
E-Comm makes its annual list of nuisance calls as a reminder of why not to call 911. It notes that call responders must treat every call they receive as an emergency, which can tie up phone lines and waste time that could otherwise be spent responding to real emergencies.
“No matter how absurd a call might be on the surface, we have to treat every 9-1-1 call as an emergency, until we can confidently determine otherwise,” said Bailey Mitchell, a police call taker at E-Comm, in a statement Tuesday.
“Every second we spend fielding questions about traffic, hornets or bad haircuts is time that could otherwise be helping someone in a life-threatening emergency situation.”
Some of the most egregious calls to 911 this year ranged from traffic complaints – including a non-electric car being parked in an EV charging station – to consumer complaints, like Walmart not accepting a return for an air frier, and someone being “unhappy with their haircut.”
The “top 10 unusual calls” that E-Comm received in B.C. in 2025, according to the company, are:
Their luggage exceeded the carry-on limits
Walmart wouldn’t return an air fryer
Their dishwasher was broken
Someone parked at Starbucks and went into a grocery store instead
A non-electric car parked at EV charging station
They wanted to complain about traffic
They got locked out of their Airbnb
They left their iPad at the SkyTrain station
They wanted help getting a hornet out of their apartment
They were unhappy with their haircut
E-Comm also released some audio files of call takers responding to the top 10 nuisance calls, which can be heard below:
E-Comm is reminding British Columbians that 911 should only be called when immediate action is required by first responders – including police, firefighters, or paramedics – such as a medical event, risk to safety or property, or a crime in progress.
To help facilitate your call, you should know your exact location, and you should not try to text 911 or contact it over social media.
If you accidentally dial 911, you should stay on the line and let the call taker know it was an accident.
E-Comm is also reminding residents not to call 911 if they are trying to reach a non-emergency number, like a local government or utilities provider. E-Comm call takers do not provide updates on weather, power outages or municipal services.
Instead, British Columbians should contact the service they’re looking for directly. E-Comm has a list of other resources on its website – including links and phone numbers to organizations like DriveBC, BC Hydro, the BC Wildfire Service and the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline.
“The majority of people use 9-1-1 responsibly, and we want British Columbians to feel confident calling for help in an emergency,” said Carly Paice, E-Comm communications manager.
“No matter the time of day, our call takers are here to connect people with critical emergency resources when they need them most,” she said.
E-Comm responds to calls in 25 regional districts across B.C. and is responsible for about 99 per cent of all 911 calls in the province, amounting to more than two million calls per year.
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