diff --git a/app/celery/provider_tasks.py b/app/celery/provider_tasks.py
index 6e8654c5b..d485e3560 100644
--- a/app/celery/provider_tasks.py
+++ b/app/celery/provider_tasks.py
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ def send_sms_to_provider(self, service_id, notification_id):
         )
         statsd_client.incr("notifications.tasks.send-sms-to-provider")
         statsd_client.timing("notifications.tasks.send-sms-to-provider.task-time", monotonic() - task_start)
-        statsd_client.timing("notifications.sms.total-time", datetime.utcnow() - notification.created_at)
+        delta_milliseconds = (datetime.utcnow() - notification.created_at).total_seconds() * 1000
+        statsd_client.timing("notifications.sms.total-time", delta_milliseconds)
 
 
 def provider_to_use(notification_type, notification_id):
@@ -184,4 +185,5 @@ def send_email_to_provider(self, service_id, notification_id):
         )
         statsd_client.incr("notifications.tasks.send-email-to-provider")
         statsd_client.timing("notifications.tasks.send-email-to-provider.task-time", monotonic() - task_start)
-        statsd_client.timing("notifications.email.total-time", datetime.utcnow() - notification.created_at)
+        delta_milliseconds = (datetime.utcnow() - notification.created_at).total_seconds() * 1000
+        statsd_client.timing("notifications.email.total-time", delta_milliseconds)
diff --git a/tests/app/celery/test_provider_tasks.py b/tests/app/celery/test_provider_tasks.py
index 2bf0a1902..64d1d296d 100644
--- a/tests/app/celery/test_provider_tasks.py
+++ b/tests/app/celery/test_provider_tasks.py
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ def test_should_not_send_to_provider_when_status_is_not_created(notify_db, notif
     app.celery.research_mode_tasks.send_sms_response.apply_async.assert_not_called()
 
 
-def test_statsd_updates(notify_db, notify_db_session, sample_service, sample_notification, mocker):
+def test_send_sms_statsd_updates(notify_db, notify_db_session, sample_service, sample_notification, mocker):
     mocker.patch('app.statsd_client.incr')
     mocker.patch('app.statsd_client.timing')
     mocker.patch('app.mmg_client.send_sms')
@@ -309,11 +309,16 @@ def test_statsd_updates(notify_db, notify_db_session, sample_service, sample_not
     )
 
     statsd_client.incr.assert_called_once_with("notifications.tasks.send-sms-to-provider")
+
     statsd_client.timing.assert_has_calls([
         call("notifications.tasks.send-sms-to-provider.task-time", ANY),
         call("notifications.sms.total-time", ANY)
     ])
 
+    # assert that the ANYs above are at least floats
+    for call_arg in statsd_client.timing.call_args_list:
+        assert isinstance(call_arg[0][1], float)
+
 
 def test_should_go_into_technical_error_if_exceeds_retries(
         notify_db,
@@ -483,11 +488,16 @@ def test_send_email_to_provider_statsd_updates(notify_db, notify_db_session, sam
     )
 
     statsd_client.incr.assert_called_once_with("notifications.tasks.send-email-to-provider")
+
     statsd_client.timing.assert_has_calls([
         call("notifications.tasks.send-email-to-provider.task-time", ANY),
         call("notifications.email.total-time", ANY)
     ])
 
+    # assert that the ANYs above are at least floats
+    for call_arg in statsd_client.timing.call_args_list:
+        assert isinstance(call_arg[0][1], float)
+
 
 def test_send_email_to_provider_should_not_send_to_provider_when_status_is_not_created(notify_db, notify_db_session,
                                                                                        sample_service,