Role of the Government Operations Centre
Date: April 24, 2020
Classification: Unclassified
Emergency Management Program Branch
Issue: To provide an overview of the role of the Government Operations Centre (GOC), in particular as it relates to the federal response during the COVID-19 pandemic
Proposed Response:
- The Government Operations Centre (GOC) is mandated, on behalf of the Government of Canada, to lead and support response coordination of events affecting the national interest in accordance with the Federal Emergency Response Plan.
- This includes natural hazards such as floods and wildfires, the safe return of Canadians from abroad, and national health crises including the current COVID-19 pandemic.
- The GOC manages formal requests for assistance from the federal government and the provinces and territories—such as the requests from Quebec and Ontario to support senior homes and long-term health care facilities—and liaises with key organizations such as the Canadian Armed Forces.
- It has developed a Government of Canada Response Plan to COVID-19. The objective of the plan is to identify the overarching roles and responsibilities and key activities of each federal department to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 to Canada.
- The GOC is integrating flood and COVID-19 responses to ensure that our emergency response to flooding is harmonized with the risk of COVID-19 infection. It is also looking ahead to integrating its response planning for the coming wildfire season as the pandemic continues.
Background:
The Government Operations Centre (GOC) is mandated, on behalf of the Government of Canada, to lead and support response coordination of events affecting the national interest in accordance with the Federal Emergency Response Plan. The GOC is housed in the Emergency Management and Programs Branch of Public Safety Canada.
It is an interdepartmental response-focused asset of the Government of Canada working in support of deputy heads, departments and agencies at the national (strategic) whole-of-government level. It brings all partners into a common operating environment to harmonize collective actions and abilities into efficient analysis and action.
The GOC has developed a Government of Canada Response Plan to COVID-19. The objective of the plan is to identify the overarching roles and responsibilities and key activities of each federal department to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 to Canada.
The GOC released version 3.2 of the plan on March 20. It outlines a coordinated whole-of-government approach and provides a high-level overview of the roles, authorities, responsibilities, capabilities and federal actions required for the response to COVID-19.
The plan provides clarity on a number of cross-cutting issues such as critical infrastructure, public health measures, and business continuity planning. It was presented to provincial and territorial (PT) partners during a call of the Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management.
Annex L to the Response Plan has also been coordinated and distributed. It address the response to any potential large community containment scenario, where a community, city, or region, may be declared under lockdown under PT authorities.
In the context of this annex, impacted PTs would lead the containment implementation, backstopped by federal capabilities as needed, including requests for assistance (RFA), evacuations, support for critical infrastructure (CI), or other aid.
Other federal departments and agencies, PT governments, and the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) took part in the planning session for this annex. Private sector supply chain and CI leads are also being consulted directly as part of this effort.
The Government of Canada is committed to assisting PTs in their mitigation or response efforts to address the cyclical natural disasters in conjunction with the COVD-19 response, by responding to formal RFAs.
A well-established process exists for managing RFAs through the GOC, which includes inter-provincial and interdepartmental consultation and coordination. An RFA Secretariat has been established in the GOC to enhance the efficiency of the RFA process in anticipation of increased needs. This is in partnership with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Health Canada (HC), Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Public Safety Canada (PS), and others.
The RFA Secretariat receives, evaluates, and prioritizes all RFAs related to COVID-19, natural disasters or any other incident. This includes the formal request for assistance from Quebec and Ontario to support senior homes and long-term health care facilities.
The GOC is now integrating flood and COVID-19 responses to ensure that emergency response to flooding is harmonized with the risk of COVID-19 infection. It is also looking ahead to the coming wildfire season as the pandemic continues to ensure these emergency responses are coordinated, similar to flooding hazards.
It is also monitoring emerging risks in a COVID-19 context such as increased malicious cyber activity against the health care sector, including hospitals. These efforts are being undertaken in collaboration with PS’s National Cyber Security Directorate and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security at the Communications Security Establishment Canada.
The GOC and PT partners maintain continuous communication and share situational awareness. The GOC will continue to monitor activities in conjunction with its partners and is prepared to respond to further requests for federal assistance as the COVID-19 pandemic and other events unfold.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Ty Curran, COVID-19 Event Team Chief Planner, 343-549-4174
Approved by: Patrick Tanguy, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Emergency Management and Programs Branch, 613-993-4325
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