Parliamentary Committee Notes: Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP)
Issue
Canada’s emergency management system and the FERP
Proposed Response
- The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the safety and security of Canadians.
- The Emergency Management Act (2007) gives the Minister of Public Safety responsibility for exercising leadership relating to emergency management in Canada by coordinating, among government institutions and in cooperation with the provinces and other entities, emergency management activities.
- The Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP) lays out how federal departments work together, in support of provincial and territorial governments, in the event of an integrated federal response. It identifies departments/agencies with policy and legal mandates as well as specialized expertise to respond to emergencies.
- The FERP addresses all hazards and covers domestic emergencies as well as international emergencies with a domestic impact. It sets out the conditions under which a federal level response is activated and escalated.
- A federal response is triggered when a province or territory sends a Request for Federal Assistance (RFA) for support in managing an emergency, when an emergency affects multiple jurisdictions or government institutions, when an emergency directly involves federal assets, services, employees or statutory authorities or responsibilities, or if the emergency affects other aspects of the national interest. The vast majority of federal responses are triggered by an RFA, when a province or territory needs additional support.
- The growing hazard climate means we are receiving more RFAs than ever. This past fire season we received 18 RFAs from provinces and territories. The Canadian Armed Forces are often central is such requests, with their deployment sought to support a wide range of emergency response activities.
- The FERP is currently undergoing a modernization process, to ensure the federal government remains ready and able to respond to the needs to Canadians and meet the challenges we are all facing as a result of climate change of increasingly frequent, unpredictable and extreme emergency events. This process includes looking at the best practices of our key partners in the Five Eyes countries, as well as collaboration with partners across Canada.
- We are also, simultaneously, exploring options for a civilian response program, enabling us to engage the specialized skills of our domestic humanitarian organisations and personnel to ensure we remain able to keep pace with the changing environment and respond to those in need.
Background
Under the Emergency Management Act – S.C. 2007 (EMA), the Minister of Public Safety is responsible for coordinating the Government of Canada’s response to major events and emergencies. The Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP) is the Government of Canada’s “all-hazards” response coordination plan, and is implemented when the scope, scale or importance of an emergency event requires an integrated federal government response.
The FERP addresses domestic emergencies and international emergencies with a domestic impact, and is limited to near term response preparedness, immediate response efforts and early recovery arrangements. This plan includes both national and regional level components, which provide a framework for effective integration of efforts both horizontally and vertically throughout the federal government.
The FERP aligns on and operationalises the principles and content of the Emergency Management Act – S.C. 2007, the Federal Policy for Emergency Management (2012), the Emergency Management Framework for Canada (2017), and the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada (2019) by defining the approach, processes and requirements to support a coherent federal approach for response readiness and integrated response operations. This includes but is not limited to:
- enhancing whole of society collaboration and governance to strengthen resilience;
- explaining how federal institutions should define and document their roles responsibilities and capabilities;
- identifying core governance structures for both regular business and for an integrated federal response;
- defining the response coordination function, including the mandate of the Government Operations Centre; and
- defining the processes required to support coordinated federal emergency response operations with those of the provincial/territorial/governments, Indigenous communities, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector.
The FERP applies to all federal government institutions, and does not replace, but should be read in conjunction with, and as complimentary to, event-specific or departmental/agency plans or areas of responsibility.
In 2016, internal and external reviews were conducted in an effort to assess the mechanisms that the federal government relies on to carry out its leadership role in emergency management. The 2016 Elliot Report resulted in 25 recommendations for modernizing the Government Operations Centre (GOC).
ADM Committee was struck in 2017 which resulted in the implementation of a whole-of-government approach towards addressing and resolving those recommendations, with objectives of:
- Enabling a whole of government approach to emergency management,
- Improving collaboration and building partnerships across the federal response community;
- Harmonizing federal capacities; and
- Delivering results for Canadians in the context of emergency management.
The Federal Emergency Management Modernization Project has been ongoing since 2018 and has brought together partners from across 26 federal institutions and engaged with international partners on best practices and models.
The modernization work is centred on the tangible practice aspects of emergency management; it is not part of policy, tactical or science spheres of EM work, but a space that aims to connect those working in these domains to more effectively carry out their EM functions.
Key initiatives include:
- Development of the new Federal Emergency Response Plan;
- Creating a Federal Emergency Management Functional Community;
- Modernizing EM technology and digital tools;
- Development of a new facility for the GOC
- Date modified: