Calgary 911 procedures weren’t followed in the case of missing child Parker Wells earlier this summer, resulting in a delay in action around his disappearance, according to a City of Calgary internal review.

Eleven-year-old Parker Wells went missing from a north Calgary day home on July 16, 2026, eventually resulting in an unprecedented search that captivated the city for more than two weeks.

Despite the round-the-clock search efforts, Wells was found dead in stormwater pipes two weeks later.

Now, the City of Calgary said its 911 operations failed to escalate the initial call made at 10:53 a.m., though the person didn’t want to file a missing person report at that time and would call back if Parker wasn’t found shortly after.

According to the review, they found that sufficient information was provided to identify the initial situation as an “endangered missing child” and a Priority 1 police event should have been initiated.

A supervisor reviewed the call, but didn’t reopen, escalate, or reassess the event. The review found that the supervisor should have more fully considered all of the information at that time.

It wasn’t until a second call came in at 11:24 a.m. to officially report Parker Wells missing, and another 17 minutes (11:41 a.m.) when a Priority 1 Missing Person event was created.

“The outcome of this review is difficult,” said Iain Bushell, Director of Emergency Management and Community Safety with The City of Calgary.

“It identified instances where established procedures were not followed, resulting in a delay in how certain information was acted on. That delay did not meet the standard of service we expect.”

Since the review, the City of Calgary has implemented policy changes, after looking at gaps in how existing policies were applied, rather than any gaps in policies themselves.

Now, all advised events (not immediately requiring police assistance), are reviewed after 15-30 minutes by two supervisors, rather than one. Spot checks and periodic reviews are also being implemented to reinforce operational standards.

Additional workplace supports are going to be provided.

All employees will be required to review missing persons policies, reinforcing policy adherence, and a broader review of standard operating procedures.  New recruits will now be trained for 11 weeks, with additional training on critical thinking, emotional intelligence and problem solving. There will also be additional training for supervisors.

“We dispatch over 600,000 individual incidents a year, and the dedicated professionals at 911 come to work every day, anticipating that they will do their jobs to the best of their ability,” Bushell said.

“The procedures in this case were not followed by an individual, and for whatever reason, that led to a delay in dispatching a priority one call.

Bushell confirmed that one person involved in the call is no longer with the City of Calgary.

911 call reviews are done regularly, Bushell said

Bushell said that when there are significant incidents, like the one that occurred this summer, a review process is triggered.

“We’re always seeking continuous improvement at Calgary 911, and so that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

When asked, Bushell wouldn’t comment on whether the City of Calgary could be looking at liability in this situation.

A statement from the City of Calgary’s legal department said they wouldn’t comment on questions of legal liability.

“The purpose of releasing the 9-1-1 internal review finding was to be transparent about what occurred, what the review found, and the steps that have been taken in response to those findings,” read the emailed statement.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that it was important to reveal the findings of the review swiftly and without varnish, to be transparent and accountable to Calgarians.

“I think today’s news really reinforces the need for accountability, being clear with Calgarians about what we know, what we don’t know, the good, the bad, the ugly, what went wrong, but most importantly, the steps that we’re taking to improve it,” he said.

Farkas was asked if a mistake was acceptable when 911 operators deal with hundreds of thousands of calls annually.

“It’s never acceptable for any Calgarian who needs the help to call and not get it within an adequate time frame, and that’s really what our focus on council has been about: Public safety, making sure that our first responders have adequate resources,” he said.

Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly said that transparency was important. He was happy to hear that the review had also been supplied to the family of Parker Wells, along with the Calgary Police Service and the Government of Alberta.

“By admitting mistakes, acknowledging mistakes, and then taking corrective actions to improve upon those, is how we get better,” he said.

“Obviously, in this particular case, I’m really disappointed with the findings themselves of this particular report. But I am glad that the report was done.”

Kelly said that, in his review of the findings, it appeared that an error in judgment had been made in the 911 call centre. Then procedures weren’t followed.

“I would classify that judgment call as an error, and unfortunately that delayed the process. Then… on the second call, there was a mistake there as well, and the actual process itself wasn’t followed, so in both of those circumstances, I think that the folks at the call center right now are probably having a pretty intensive review of how their actions unfortunately led to a delay of about 50 minutes for a priority one call going out to Calgary police,” he said.

“Speed is of the essence when it comes to finding missing persons and especially vulnerable individuals like Parker, like any child.”