Parliamentary Committee Notes: Federal Response to Wildfires
Date: May 11, 2022
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: Emergency Management and Programs Branch
Proposed Response:
- Climate change is a significant driving factor behind the longer, more challenging fire seasons that the country has been experiencing in recent years. The Government of Canada is committed to working with provinces and territories and whole-of-society partners to prevent, respond to, and recover from wildfire events.
- The Federal Government provides important financial, technical and scientific support for wildland fire management across the country.
- This includes combined financial support for the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, through Natural Resources Canada and Parks Canada, to support response capacity across Canada; Parks Canada maintenance of fire management responsibilities in national parks; and the provision of critical fire data through the Canadian Forest Service’s Canadian Wildland Fire Information System to support provincial and territorial planning and decision-making around wildfire management.
- During a major wildfire event, provinces and territories may seek assistance from the Federal Government by submitting a formal Request for Federal Assistance. The Government Operations Centre, situated within Public Safety Canada, will coordinate and monitor the federal response to the wildland fire event.
- Over the past several years, collaborative response efforts have taken many forms: the Canadian Armed Forces have provided significant assistance to provinces; Canadian Red Cross personnel have been active or on standby; and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre has coordinated international assistance from many key partners, including the United States and Australia.
Responsive Lines
- In the event of a large-scale disaster, the Government of Canada provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial governments through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements.
- The provincial or territorial governments are responsible for the design, development and delivery of disaster financial assistance, deciding the amounts and types of assistance that will be provided to those that have experienced losses.
Financial Implications
- The Government of Canada has committed to making significant pro-active investments to combat wildfire events. This includes over $500 million invested through Budget 2022 to provide support to provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities in wildfire management, and monitoring; nearly $82 million as part of Budget 2021 for resilience efforts; and over $207 million in wildfire preparedness and mitigation investments from Budget 2019, including to Indigenous Services Canada’s Emergency Management Assistance Program to support on reserve communities.
- In addition, since 2018, the Government of Canada has invested $3.4 billion for the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund to make communities more resilient to the natural disasters caused by climate change.
Background
Like other climate-change driven hazards, wildfires are increasing in both frequency and costs, and are a mounting threat to the safety and economic viability of Canadian businesses and communities.
Provinces/territories and local authorities are primarily responsible for wildfire preparedness and response in their jurisdictions and own the majority of fire fighting capacity in Canada.
Cross-Jurisdictional Collaboration on Wildfires
Wildfire agencies collaborate through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), a not-for-profit corporation owned and operated by the federal, provincial and territorial wildland fire management agencies, to exchange fire fighting personnel, aircraft, equipment and information. CIFFC is responsible for coordinating international assistance related to wildfires and is currently undergoing a substantial shift as its mandate expands to include wildfire prevention and mitigation activities. Through recent mandate commitments, the Government of Canada has also committed to take steps to establish an international centre of excellence in Canada focused on firefighter training, coordination and wildfire management.
These collaborative efforts are guided by the Emergency Management Framework for Canada, which establishes a common approach for a range of collaborative emergency management initiatives in support of safe and resilient communities. The Framework was revised and approved by Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers in 2017. Building on the Framework, the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030identifies federal, provincial and territorial priorities that will strengthen Canada’s resilience by 2030. Approved and released at the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers’ Meeting in 2019, the Strategy is a collaborative, whole-of-society roadmap to strengthening Canada’s ability to assess risks, prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Federal Role and Supports
To manage the risks of disasters including wildfires, the Government of Canada is working with a wide range of partners as it shifts its approach from a reactive government-focused model to a proactive whole-of-society framework with a focus on disaster risk reduction, prevention and mitigation.The Government has made a number of investments into better understanding wildland fire risk through the National Risk Profile and has invested in wildfire preparedness and capacity building in First Nations communities and in national parks. Public Safety Canada regularly works with federal, provincial and territorial partners to ensure ongoing coordinated responses to wildfires and other disasters events.
If provinces or territories assess that an emergency exceeds their capacity and resources to respond, they may submit a Requests for Federal Assistance (RFA). When a PT makes an official RFA, there is a well-established process in place for managing RFAs through the Government Operations Centre (GOC) at Public Safety Canada. This process includes interdepartmental consultation and coordination of all departments as required.
The Minister of Emergency Preparedness and the Minister of National Defence regularly collaborate to ensure a strategic approach for the use of CAF to support wildfires and other cyclical event response efforts. This facilitates deployment approvals, preventing delays in timely federal support, and ensures appropriate vetting of requests given the potential high demand for finite resources.
Wildfire Mitigation
In line with the priorities identified in the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada, reducing disaster risk and vulnerability and building resilient communities are objectives supported by the activities of a range of federal departments and agencies. A wide range of programs across the federal government serve to mitigate the impacts of threats and hazards to Canadians and Canadian communities, including Indigenous communities. Select examples include:
- Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF)
- Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA)
- Business Risk Management (Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada)
- Climate-resilient Building Codes and Guides (National Research Council)
- Emergency Management Assistance Program (Indigenous Services Canada)
- Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
Financial Implications
Budget 2022 proposes additional action to counter the growing threat of wildfires in Canada, including by providing support to provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities for wildfire mitigation, response, and monitoring through the following:
- $269 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to Natural Resources Canada as exceptional, time-limited support to help provinces and territories procure firefighting equipment such as vehicles and aircrafts;
- $39.2 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to Indigenous Services Canada to support the purchase of firefighting equipment by First Nations communities;
- $37.9 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, with $0.6 million ongoing, to Natural Resources Canada to train 1,000 additional firefighters and incorporate Indigenous traditional knowledge in fire management; and
- $169.9 million over 11 years, starting in 2022-23, with $6.9 million in remaining amortization, to the Canadian Space Agency, Natural Resources Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada to deliver and operate a new wildfire monitoring satellite system.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Keith Smith, Policy Analyst, 613-618-1775
Approved by: Trevor Bhupsingh, Assistant Deputy Minister, 613-769-3042
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