Cellphones in the U.S. have been receiving automatic Amber Alert texts since 2013, but Canadians shouldn't expect to see the technology anytime soon.

South of the border, whenever an Amber Alert is triggered everyone in the area receives a text through the government's Wireless Emergency Alert program.

Though Canada has a similar program, it's strictly voluntary for now – and of the country's 30-million cellphone users, only about 60,000 people have registered.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association is working on a U.S.-style system, which was announced in mid-2015, but the launch date is expected to be up to two years away.

Mounties believe widely-distributed text message alerts would mean more eyes and ears helping them bring kids home safely.

"It's important that as many people as possible have the information," said Sgt. Annie Linteau, "E" Division spokesperson.

The timeliness of that information is key, Linteau added.

"The early stages of any investigation, especially when it comes to missing person or Amber Alerts, are definitely crucial," she said.

Amber Alert information is disseminated in a number of ways in Canada, including on TV, radio, buses and the news media, but it can still take a while to reach people who are out on foot.

The Surrey RCMP detachment recently released a smartphone app that addresses that issue, but it only sends out Amber Alerts about abductions that happened in Surrey.

Apart from notifying cellphone users about Amber Alerts, the CWTA text system announced last year would also spread information about emergencies such as fires, floods and water contamination.

Before it can launch, it requires the approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which said that while it believes the system will do a lot of good, it’s important that it’s properly implemented.

“Canadians have told us that emergency alerts on television and radio services are helpful, but that they would be more effective on mobile devices," Peter Menzies, vice-chairman on telecommunications, said in June 2015.

"More work needs to be done to ensure the standards will work in the real world, and we will continue to monitor this initiative.”

To sign up to receive wireless Amber Alerts in the meantime, click here.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim