Once you have made the necessary changes and entered your data, it will be made available to the appropriate telephone service provider for entry or update of their records. The telcos also have access to the system, but with additional features to allow them to filter for the numbers they manage and to download the information in a common data format. Security is maintained. The telco only sees a list of numbers with no associated names or identification. A report is provided for all users that identifies the download activity of each telco in the system.
Priority is available on the incumbent wired telephone network throughout Canada.
It attempts to ensure that those identified will be able to obtain dial tone from their local switch. It does not guarantee that a call will be completed, as this may involve inter-switch connections that may or may not be congested or out of service. The provision of telephone service in Canada is becoming increasingly competitive, and this means that the services provided by the various telcos can differ widely. This is the case with priority access. The incumbent service providers are able to provide priority service, but this may not be the case for the new competing telephone service providers though Industry Canada is trying to prevail upon these new providers the importance of this service.