Parliamentary Committee Notes: Emergency Management in Canada
Proposed Response
- Emergencies are managed first at the local level. If additional assistance is required, local jurisdictions can request it from their respective provinces or territories (P/T). If the emergency escalates beyond P/T capabilities, the provinces or territories seek assistance from the federal government.
- Essentially, our role is to bring together, collaborate, coordinate and communicate with federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories when the scale of an event requires a coordinated response.
- Moving forward, the Government of Canada understands the importance of moving away from a reactive approach to emergency management and shift towards a more proactive approach, rooted in disaster risk reduction, mitigation, and preparedness. This will ultimately support us in minimizing the growing risks of disasters we face in Canada, and reducing the reliance on the Canadian Armed Forces when disaster inevitably strikes.
Emergency Management Act
- The Emergency Management Act sets out my responsibilities for exercising emergency management leadership in Canada. This includes coordinating emergency management activities among government institutions, and other entities.
- I exercise this leadership in close cooperation with my provincial and territorial counterparts through FPT Table of Ministers Responsible for Emergency Management. This FPT Table is supported by FPT officials through Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management.
- The Act also gives me a number of other authorities that may be required as we respond to disaster events. This includes:
- Declaring a provincial emergency to be of concern to the Federal Government; and
- Providing financial assistance to a province or territory, upon request, if they have declared a provincial emergency.
- Additionally, and pursuant to the Emergency Management Act, all federal ministers are responsible for developing emergency management plans in relation to risks in their areas of accountability.
Emergency Management Strategy
- In January 2019, Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Emergency Management approved Canada’s first ever Federal, Provincial and Territorial Emergency Management Strategy.
- The Emergency Management Strategy for Canada builds on the foundational principles articulated in the Emergency Management Framework and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in order to establish Federal, Provincial and Territorial priorities to strengthen the resilience of Canadian society by 2030.
- This Strategy establishes common priorities and areas for action that will help Canada prepare for the impacts of climate change, the effects of which are already being felt across Canada.
- The Government of Canada is committed to advancing this work with the ongoing collaboration of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Partners.
- In March 2022, Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers responsible for emergency management released the 2021-22 Federal-Provincial-Territorial Interim Action Plan to advance defined outcomes within the Emergency Management Strategy.
- The 2021-22 Interim Action Plan identifies strategic actions and activities that Federal, Provincial, and Territorial governments and respective Emergency Management Partners will undertake to build greater resilience to disasters across all four pillars of emergency management: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
- This Interim Action Plan prioritizes regular Federal-Provincial-Territorial collaboration and engagement with key emergency management partners, including Indigenous leadership, and sets the stage for future plans to be built on sustained dialogue, active participation and ongoing discussions among all partners.
- At their meeting in June 2023, Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers agreed to extend the 2021-22 Interim Action Plan to the end of 2023 to allow Federal-Provincial-Territorial governments more time to advance key initiatives.
- Federal-Provincial-Territorial Emergency Management Partners are currently working together to develop the next version of the Action Plan.
Background
Emergency Management in Canada
Emergency management (EM) in Canada is recognized as a shared responsibility across all sectors of society. Under Canada’s Constitution Act (1867), provinces and territories (PT) have primary responsibility for emergency management within their jurisdiction. The Emergency Management Act (EMA) (2007) established the Federal Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (Public Safety Canada) and legislates the leadership role and responsibilities of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, including coordinating emergency management activities among government institutions and in cooperation with the provinces and other entities. The Act acknowledges the shared nature of EM in Canada, including outlining the responsibilities of other federal ministers.
To ensure a coordinated approach to EM activities, Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) governments work in close collaboration to prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. This work is guided by the foundational principles set-out in the Emergency Management Framework for Canada (2017) (the Framework) and supported by FPT priorities established in the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada (2019)(the EM Strategy).
The Framework aims to guide and strengthen the way governments and partners assess risks and work across the entire EM System. The Frameworkdescribes the sharing of EM responsibilities among FPT governments, as well as with their respective EM partners (including but not limited to: Indigenous peoples, municipalities, communities, volunteer and non-governmental organizations, the private sector, critical infrastructure owners and operators, academia, and volunteers).
The EM Strategy builds off the Framework to establish common priorities to strengthen the resilience of Canadian society by 2030, and takes into consideration that actions must be taken to prepare for the impacts of climate change, the effects of which are already being felt across Canada. It seeks to align the efforts of all Canadians, as well as to strengthen overall resilience through five priority areas of activity:
- Enhance whole-of-society collaboration and governance to strengthen resilience;
- Improve understanding of disaster risks in all sectors of society;
- Increase focus on whole-of-society disaster prevention and mitigation activities;
- Enhance disaster response capacity and coordination and foster the development of new capabilities; and,
- Strengthen recovery efforts by building back better to minimize the impacts of future disasters.
After approving the EM Strategy, FPT Ministers Responsible for Emergency Management directed the Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management (SOREM) to develop and advance a series of Action Plans to advance the implementation of the EM Strategy to 2030. SOREM represents the collection of FPT government organizations who lead emergency management efforts on behalf of their respective jurisdiction.
The Action Plan is intended to advance defined outcomes within the EM Strategy, and to develop the concrete steps that FPT governments, and respective EM Partners, intend to take to advance resilience to disasters within Canada. This series of Action Plans has commenced with an Interim Action Plan for 2021-22 (due to COVID-19 delaying development). The 2021-22 Interim Action Plan was approved by FPT Ministers in March 2022 (March 17th, 2022), and published online. In June 2023, FPT Ministers agreed to extend the 2021-22 Interim Action Plan to December 2023. FPT governments are currently working together to develop the next iteration of the plan.
Response Coordination with Provincial/Territorial Governments
Many emergencies remain local in nature and can be effectively managed within the local resources of the municipality and province or territory. When an incident exceeds the capacity of local jurisdictions, municipalities may request aid from the PT government. If the PT assesses that the emergency exceeds their capacity and resources to respond, federal assistance can be sought to help them fill the gaps to mitigate and respond to an emergency. This takes the form of a Request for Federal Assistance (RFA) that is submitted to the federal government. The Minister of Public Safety is responsible to coordinate RFAs under the EMA (2007). When a PT makes an official RFA, there is a well-established process in place for managing RFAs. The Government Operations Centre (GOC), housed at Public Safety Canada, facilitates interdepartmental consultation and coordination of all departments depending on the nature of the disaster assistance request. This ensures a coherent whole-of-government approach in responding to emergency management activities through rapid and agile inter-departmental and/or inter-governmental consultations prior to directing specific requests to a federal organization.
Federal Emergency Management
Similar to the shared nature of EM activities across jurisdictional boundaries, federal responsibilities for EM activities reside in numerous federal departments. The EMA (2007) legislates that federal departments and agencies identify risks pertaining to their area of responsibility and prepare response plans in accordance with those risks. When an event occurs, the department or agency with the event responsibility has a clear mandate to respond, and is responsible to act. However, if emergencies escalate and spread, other federal departments may be required to play a role to manage the impact within their area of expertise.
Public Safety Canada is responsible for supporting coordination of preparedness and response activities. The Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP) (2011) is the Government of Canada’s framework for coordinating emergency response activities across the federal government. It outlines the processes and mechanisms to facilitate an integrated, strategic-level Government of Canada response, and to harmonize federal response efforts with those of the provincial/territorial governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The FERP outlines a governance structure to help coordinate response to emergencies at both the federal level and with PTs when an RFA is submitted.
Additional Federal Legislation to Respond to Large Scale Events
Aside from the EMA (2007), the federal Emergencies Act (EA) (1988) is considered a means of last resort for responding to threats. It serves as a more limited replacement for the War Measures Act, last used during the October Crisis in 1970. It differs from the War Measures Act in important ways, including: 1) it contains several safeguards, including Parliamentary supervision; and 2) any measures taken under it would have to comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
If the Governor in Council (GiC) believes, on reasonable grounds, that the conditions for a public welfare emergency have been met, the GiC may declare a public welfare emergency. The conditions are:
- An urgent and critical situation of a temporary nature exists;
- The situation seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of individuals;
- The situation is of such proportions or nature that it exceeds the capacity or authority of a province; and
- The situation cannot be effectively dealt with by any other law of Canada (e.g. federal or provincial law).
In addition, consultations with PT governments are required prior to invoking the EA (1988). To date, the only declaration to have ever been made under the EA was during the 2022 “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa. The Federal Government declared a public order emergency under the EA to end disruptions, blockades and the occupation of the city of Ottawa. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness plays an instrumental role in the consultations required to invoke the Act, and more importantly in support of his leadership and coordination role under the EMA(2007).
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