Message Relay Service

ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᐸᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ. ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᔅᓴᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᓛᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑎᑦ ᐅᕗᖓ 1 888 423-2333

Message Relay Service supports phone communication between hearing people and people who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, or those with speech disabilities.

Key Features

  • Specially trained operators act as intermediaries to help you make calls.
  • Message Relay operators are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • Calls placed through the Message Relay Service are entirely confidential. Message Relay operators follow a strict code of ethics. No record of conversation content is retained.
  • There is no charge for using the Message Relay Service to place local calls.
  • Types of Message Relay Service Calls and Charges
    • There is no charge for local calls. Registered teletypewriter (TTY) users are eligible for a 50% rebate on Canada-to-Canada long distance calls that are billed to their Northwestel Home Phone service.
    • In order to register for the discount, the user needs to be certified as being deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, or having speech disabilities.
    • Collect, person-to-person and Calling Card™ calls as well as calls billed to a third number* are subject to regular operator-handling charges. NOTE: Calls to 900 and 976 numbers are not accepted.
  • How to use Message Relay
    • Call 1 800 855-0511 for a voice to TTY call
    • Call 711 for a TTY to voice call
    • Call 1 800 855-1155 for a TTY to TTY call
    • Call 711# on a mobile phone to connect with a TTY operator
  • How does Message Relay work for TTY Users?

    Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability use a TTY to type their conversations to a Message Relay Service operator. The operator then reads the typed conversation to the other party. The Message Relay Service operator then types the other party's spoken words back to the TTY user.

  • How does Message Relay work for Voice Users?

    You can make home or mobile phone calls easily to TTY users using the Message Relay service. A Message Relay Service operator will type your spoken words to TTY users and read back their replies.