Emergency Management

Public Safety Canada (PS) plays a leadership role in Canada’s emergency management (EM) system by coordinating EM activities among federal institutions and in cooperation with the provinces, territories, and other entities. PS helps Canadians and their communities protect themselves from emergencies and disasters through a range of initiatives and functions supporting the four components of EM: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

PS provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial (PT) governments through programs such as Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA). The Government Operations Centre (GOC) supports response coordination among departments for events affecting the national interest and manages Requests for Federal Assistance (RFAs), which any PT may submit to the federal government to provide support in response to an emergency event that escalates beyond their capabilities.

Climate change and the growing frequency of floods, wildfires and other environmental, natural, and human-induced disasters are leading to significant increases in rate of occurrence, severity and cost of disasters in Canada. Since the DFAA program was established in 1970, the Government of Canada has contributed over $7.9 billion in post-disaster assistance to help provinces and territories with the costs of response and of returning infrastructure and personal property to pre-disaster condition. Seventy-three per cent (73%)  of this total was paid out in the last 10 years. Provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments have incurred billions more in further costs. As such, the leadership role that PS plays in Canada’s emergency management system is becoming increasingly important in order to ensure an all-hazards and whole-of-society approach to strengthening Canada’s resilience. There are many links between emergency management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation which are fostering discussions beyond traditional EM circles.

Through a separate and distinct mandate letter, the President of King’s Privy Council and Minister of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for the implementation of a number of government commitments related to emergency management and preparedness.

Further Information

As outlined in theEmergency Management Act (2007), EM in Canada is a shared responsibility, which relies on ongoing cooperation and communication among all levels of government. PT governments and local authorities provide the first response to the vast majority of emergencies. The Government of Canada provides resources, reimburses costs and provides leadership to prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from major emergency events. PS provides leadership in EM through the promotion of standards/best practices and the development and implementation of policies, plans and a range of programs.

Emergency Management Strategy

TheEmergency Management Framework for Canada(2017) aims to guide and strengthen the way governments and partners assess risks and work together to prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the threats that pose the greatest risk to Canadians. The Framework aligns with key international agreements, including theSendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction2015-2030, to advance disaster risk reduction priorities and theUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Building on this foundation, theEmergency Management Strategy for Canada(2019) was approved by FPT Ministers responsible for emergency preparedness and management and established five FPT priorities to strengthen the resilience of Canadian society by 2030:

The National Risk Profile

PS promotes a common federal view of disaster risk though the development of a National Risk Profile (NRP) to help identify capability improvements that keep pace with a changing risk environment. The first NRP public report was released as part of Emergency Preparedness Week, on May 11, 2023. The report is based on input and evidence from whole-of-society stakeholders across Canada, and provides a foundation for understanding disaster risk.

The next NRP will focus on heat events, hurricanes and space weather. These three hazards were selected given their high impacts on public health, critical infrastructure, the economy, and ecosystems. In future years, the NRP will expand to include more natural hazards, and subject to decision-making, and will eventually include all hazards and human-induced threats.

Historically, flooding has been the most costly natural hazard in Canada. Efforts are underway to mitigate future flood risk and build flood resilience. PS is implementing a systems-based approach to address gaps identified in Canada’s flood risk management system with the goal of reducing the financial burden of flooding on Canadians, increasing the resilience of Canadian communities, and raising Canadians’ awareness of flood risk and encouraging behaviours to reduce risk.

Specifically, PS is taking action to help Canadians be prepared for, and recover from the impact of floods in high risk areas by:

PS is also working on a Disaster Risk Reduction Data Strategy to support Environment and Climate Change Canada’s efforts to establish a Climate Data Strategy, to ensure that the private sector and communities have access to data to inform planning and infrastructure investments.

Government Operations Centre Modernization

PS is working to modernize federal capabilities and practice including reinforcing the role of the GOC. A key activity of this project is to renew the Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP) which is the Government of Canada's "all-hazards" response plan. The FERP is designed to harmonize and coordinate federal emergency response efforts with those of the PT governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.

Emergency Communications for First Responders and Public Awareness

Engagement and collaboration among EM partners continues in order to establish a Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) to facilitate resilient and technology-enabled communications in emergency situations for Canada’s emergency responders and public safety personnel. In addition, the modernization of public alerting capabilities to warn the public of imminent or unfolding hazards through cell phones, television and radio is an important tool for Canadians – it provides warnings and a call to action through the National Public Alerting System (NPAS), publicly known as Alert Ready. PT governments are seeking to establish a national emergency communications strategy and to strengthen interprovincial mutual assistance agreements to help prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. First responder associations have long been strong supporters for the implementation of a PSBN in Canada and are now advocating to strengthen the NPAS including further extending alerting authorities to first responder agencies.

To support public awareness and further increase the understanding of disaster risks, the Department has also launched an Emergency Preparedness Public Awareness Campaign. The campaign aims to protect Canadians by focusing on concrete actions that individuals can take to better prepare against the risk of natural disasters and emergencies.

Provincial/Territorial and Stakeholder Perspectives

PS maintains a network of partnerships with other federal government institutions, PT emergency management organizations, first responders and voluntary organizations (e.g., Canadian Red Cross), industry representatives (e.g., Insurance Bureau of Canada), and other stakeholders and communities supporting a whole-of-society approach to emergency management that leverages resources and capacities at all levels across the country.

PS has worked alongside PT governments to co-create an Action Plan for 2021-22 that will advance shared priorities under the Emergency Management Strategy. This 2021-22 Interim Action Plan was approved by FPT Ministers in March 2022 and in June 2023, FPT Ministers agreed to extend the plan to December 2023. PT partners have, through the Canadian Council of Emergency Management Organization (CCEMO), stated their three main collective EM priorities as: development of a national EM communications strategy; a national EM training strategy and standards; and a national/interprovincial mutual assistance agreement. These priorities and federal EM priorities have been reflected in the current Action Plan and are to be reflected in future iterations of the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada Action Plan.

As well, PS, in collaboration with other government departments, has been supporting PT partners in their response to large-scale emergency events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, by supporting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) through the Humanitarian Workforce program in building emergency readiness capacity and by funding the deployment of various surge support tools and resources, including Canadian Red Cross (CRC) personnel across the country. Additionally, PS is working with PT partners, the CRC and United Way on coordinated donation-matching initiatives to support disaster relief and recovery efforts in communities impacted by recent emergency events. PS is taking a long-term approach to building readiness and response capacity and intends to engage with provinces, territories, Indigenous partners, NGOs and other stakeholders on the need for a pan-Canadian approach for a civilian response capacity.

PS is commencing work on the second round of risk and capability assessments through the NRP. This will allow for the continuous improvement of the strategic assessment process, which in turn allow for better information and analysis informing the NRP. As part of this, PS held virtual risk assessment sessions which involved whole-of-society experts from across Canada. Participants were tasked with examining scenarios on heat events, hurricanes and space weather. These three hazards were selected given their high impacts on public health, critical infrastructure, the economy, and ecosystems.

Finally, following a February 2023 meeting between Minister Blair and representatives of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the National Search and Rescue Secretariat (NSS) is coordinating a working level joint meeting between federal departments with Search and Rescue-related responsibilities and the Province. The focus of the meetings are on improving Search and Rescue (SAR) in the Province, especially Labrador, through SAR enhancements focused on safety and prevention. The meeting will culminate in a joint plenary panel at the annual SAR scene Conference September 15th, 2023 in St. John’s NFLD.

National Adaptation Strategy

Canada’s first National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) was released by Minister Blair, Ministers Petitpas-Taylor and MacAulay, on behalf of Minister Guilbeault, on November 24, 2022. The NAS establishes a shared vision for climate resilience in Canada, key priorities for collaboration, and aligns collective and individual actions for faster, coordinated, and systemic adaptation. The NAS has been informed by public engagement opportunities as well as expert stakeholder advice led by Advisory Tables focused on health, infrastructure, the environment, the economy, and disaster resilience and security, the last of which was co-chaired by Public Safety Canada, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The Disaster Resilience and Security Advisory Table consists of diverse stakeholders, including representatives from National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs), NGOs, academia, industry and others. Advisory Table engagement has demonstrated that stakeholders are looking for significant, immediate and tangible actions in the area of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, especially as we see events unfolding in our country which demonstrate the growing impacts of climate-related disasters to Canadians. As such, the Advisory Table identified actions to strengthen Canada’s preparedness and readiness to disaster events with a focus on floods, heat events, wildfires and recovery.

The Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan (GOCAAP) was released alongside the NAS and serves as the federal plan to implement the NAS through organizing federal efforts on adaptation and providing an inventory of federal adaptation actions.

Following the November 2022 launch, a final consultation period, which ended on March 31, 2023, was undertaken to review the goals, targets and objectives in the NAS with provinces, territories, (PTs) and NIOs. On June 27, 2023, the final NAS and GOCAAP, integrating the feedback from the consultation period, was released. Disaster Resilience programming listed within the GOCAAP have been updated based on consultation with OGDs to ensure that the public-facing wording is in line with current federal investments, including Budget 2023.

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