The Saskatchewan Government has announced that initial testing of the SaskAlert Emergency System will begin next month.

Duane McKay, Emergency Management & Fire Safety Commissioner says the system will allow residents to be notified of emergencies and actions they can take.

"The SaskAlert System will provide the government, local authorities and municipalities and First Nations an opportunity to notify residents within their jurisdictions and within the province of emergencies and critical actions they can take to avoid significant impact."

The testing will occur in an area around the Southern Alberta border all the way up to Meadow Lake provincial park.

The general public will be able to see test alerts through the Weather Network's various media outlets such as their website, Twitter feed and smart phone app.

McKay says media will form the baseline for people to get information.

"Weve been monitoring this for a long period of time in terms of how people communicate and the type of communication devices that they have with them all the time. And obviously alot of people have smart phones. We also recognize that alot of people still listen to the radio and watch television and other social media and so we want to impact all of those avenues as much as we possibly can. Media will obviously form the baseline for people to get information. We want to make sure that everybody is connected as much as possible."

The system will have two levels of alert. Level 1 is an immediate threat to life and property and level 2 is urgent information that is not critical to life.