Parliamentary Committee Notes: Requests for Federal Assistance (RFA) Process
Proposed Response
- The Government of Canada is committed to assisting provinces and territories with their emergency management responses to cyclical natural disasters and other emergency events affecting the national interest.
- Emergencies are managed first at the local level. If they need assistance at the local level, they request it from the provinces or territories (P/T). If the emergency escalates beyond P/T capabilities, the provinces or territories seek assistance from the federal government.
- The Federal Emergency Response Plan, known as the FERP, details how this authority is exercised. Within this Plan, Public Safety Canada is identified as the federal coordinating department for emergency response. The FERP further identifies primary and supporting departments and agencies for the response to specific types of events.
- The National Defence Act outlines cases in which the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) may be authorized to provide assistance in an emergency. They may perform public service duties and assistance to law enforcement. As CAF assistance is always considered a resource of last resort, this requires ministerial approval and the Minister must specifically request the Minster of National Defence to authorize this assistance in the event on an emergency.
- When an emergency involves a First Nation (FN) community, FN leadership, depending on relevant emergency management agreements, will work in collaboration with their P/T and/or Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) or regional officials, to assess the emergency and propose a response. If a resolution is not possible at the regional level, a request for assistance may be sought.
- The Government Operations Centre (GOC) at Public Safety specifically helps the Minister of Emergency Preparedness deliver on a number of responsibilities, including coordinating the provision of assistance to a province or territory, and coordinating the Government of Canada’s response to emergency events, including this process of coordinating with CAF should the need arise.
- Essentiellement, notre rôle consiste à réunir, à collaborer, à coordonner et à communiquer avec les ministères et organismes fédéraux, les provinces et les territoires lorsque l'ampleur d'un événement exige une intervention coordonnée.
Requests for Federal Assistance
- Should a province or territory make an official request for federal assistance (RFA), there is a well-established process in place to manage this request, beginning with contacting the GOC, and includes interdepartmental consultation and coordination as it pertains to resources. Often this “behind the scenes” work begins before a request is received, once the extent of the event is being understood.
- Prior to the pandemic and the emergence of more severe weather events such as this year’s historic wildfire season, the GOC, and to some extent the CAF, were supporting 5-10 RFAs per year to provide humanitarian support during cyclical events and other emergencies.
- Since the start of 2020, the GOC has processed 230 RFAs, including humanitarian, public health, assistance to law enforcement, wildfire, flooding and hurricane response, national coordination, and evacuation support.
- Given the rise in natural disasters and increased emergency management literacy across all levels of government, we do not anticipate the number of RFAs to return to pre-pandemic levels.
- For example, during this wildfire season alone, the GOC processed and approved 18 RFAs which was an increase of 29% over the significant 2021 wildfire season.
- The CAF is always considered a source of last resort for response to emergencies within Canada. As a result, when requests for CAF resources are received they must undergo a strict assessment carried out by the GOC and its Regional Offices, to ensure, among other things, all local/Provincial/Territorial, and commercial options have been exhausted or cannot be used.
- The GOC will recommend that an RFA be approved when there is no regional solution and that there is no commercial, local, regional or provincial capacity to address the gap. There must also be a clearly defined and feasible timeline for CAF deployments so they are time limited and appropriate for the response phase of an event rather than long-term recovery.
- For example, within the context of Hurricane Fiona, assistance from the CAF was sought to provide support with impact assessments, debris removal, and wellness checks which would fall outside of life and limb response efforts. The GOC will look to see if there is other federal capacity that can assist. In this case, the GOC coordinated additional supports from Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Natural Resources Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada.
- Due to the complexity and protracted nature of the responses to the pandemic up to this year’s historic wildfire season, operational demands and response efforts have been significant and sustained.
- Though the CAF demonstrated the ability to meet concurrent operational requirements, there were simultaneous draws on CAF to support wildfire response in multiple provinces concurrently.
- In May 2020, the Government announced a commitment of up to $100 million to help the CRC meet increased demand due to COVID-19, and to support future flood and wildfire relief efforts. An additional $70 million was announced in December 2020.
- Building on this funding, Fall Economic Statement 2020 announced that the Government would provide up to $150 million over two years to support the CRC and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in building and maintaining a humanitarian workforce to provide surge capacity in response to COVID-19 outbreaks and other large-scale emergencies.
- The HWF program aims to build a scalable civilian workforce that can be rapidly deployed in emergencies, broadening the resources available to respond to human-induced and climate-related disasters in Canada, and reducing the reliance on the Canadian Armed Forces in disaster response.
Financial Implications
- NIL
Background
Recent emergency events including this year’s wildfire season, Hurricane Fiona, and the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the importance of having surge capacity readily available, and Government of Canada investments have supported non-governmental organizations to respond to other large-scale emergencies.
The intersection of cyclical natural disasters, such as floods, wildfires and atmospheric river events, with the COVID-19 pandemic presents additional unique challenges to Provinces/Territories (PTs), First Nations and municipalities across Canada that are responsible for managing responses to emergencies within their jurisdictions.
Public Safety Canada is working with federal, provincial and territorial partners, through the Government Operations Centre (GOC), to ensure ongoing coordinated responses to natural disasters or other incidents.
Since the start of 2020, the Government of Canada has responded to 230 RFAs including 150 for COVID.
Background on Requests for Assistance
A Request for Federal Assistance (RFA) is the formalization of a request to the federal government to provide support in response to an emergency such as a natural disaster, national security incident and/or pandemic like COVID-19. If the Provinces or Territories (P/Ts) assess that the emergency exceeds their capacity and resources to response, they may seek assistance from the federal government to help them fill the gaps to mitigate and respond to an emergency. Additionally, federal organizations may also require resources from their federal partners if their ability to continue to operate and respond to an emergency is beyond their capacity.
When a P/T makes an official RFA, there is a well-established process in place for managing RFAs, through the Government Operation Centre (GOC), that includes interdepartmental consultation and coordination of all departments as required.
When the emergency involves a First Nation (FN) community, FN leadership, depending on relevant emergency management agreements, will work in collaboration with their P/Ts and/or Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) or regional officials, to assess the emergency and propose a response. If a resolution is not possible at the regional level, a request for assistance may be sought.
The GOC coordinates formal RFAs from the federal government and P/Ts and liaises with key organizations such as the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
The GOC has established an RFA Secretariat led by the GOC to receive, evaluate, and prioritize all RFAs. The GOC convenes consultation with implicated departments to review RFAs, as required.
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