Transition Binder: 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. Response and recovery has cost the federal government close to $9B through the DFAA since 1970. Over seventy per cent (70%) of this total was paid out in the last 10 years. 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.

Further Information

As outlined in the Emergency 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 Governance

Canada's emergency management system is rooted in shared responsibilities across federal, provincial, territorial (FPT), municipal governments, Indigenous communities, and private stakeholders. This collaborative model, guided by the Emergency Management Act (2007) and operationalized through the Government Operations Centre (GOC) and the Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP), is designed to address emergencies of all scales. The DM of Public Safety is also the Federal Coordination Officer and lead Federal official under the Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP) for national crises.

The system operates across four key pillars: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Each level of government plays a critical role, ensuring localized responses while enabling federal support during large-scale or multi-jurisdictional events. This decentralized approach fosters adaptability, but it also reveals challenges when facing increasingly complex emergencies. Within this construct, the GOC is largely responsible for two of these pillars: Preparedness and Response.

The current system has served Canada well over many years, but the scale and scope of emergencies and disasters is quickly outpacing the system's ability to react. Collaborative Governance is a key aspect of Canada's system. It leverages the strengths of diverse stakeholders, ensuring local expertise is central to emergency responses. The GOC does not direct or control any Federal or Provincial entity under the EMA or the FERP. In addition the EM system in Canada like in many other policy areas, made fragmented, siloed and asymmetrical in terms of capacity due the constitutional roles. Strategic efforts to render the system more integrated, balanced and responsive are underway across the entire policy suite.

Recent crises, such as the 2023 wildfires and Hurricane Fiona, have exposed several weaknesses. The 2023 wildfire season was the worst fire season in Canadian history with over 15M hectares burned. This is more than double the previous record and six times more than the 10-year season average. All levels of government and thousands of wildfire fighters here and from around the world, worked together to protect Canadians.

While not as extreme as 2023, the 2024 wildfire season is still among the worst year to date in term of areas burned. The initial analysis predicted that a lack of precipitation during the winter of (23/24) and drought conditions along with higher-than-normal temperatures would contribute to an overall elevated wildfire risk in the spring of 2024.

Emergency Management Framework and Strategy

The Emergency 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 the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, to advance disaster risk reduction priorities and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Building on this foundation, the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada (2019) was approved by FPT Ministers responsible for emergency management and established five FPT priorities to strengthen the resilience of Canadian society by 2030:

  1. Enhance whole-of-society collaboration and governance to strengthen resilience
  2. Improve understanding of disaster risks in all sectors of society
  3. Increase focus on whole-of-society disaster prevention and mitigation activities
  4. Enhance disaster response capacity and coordination and foster the development of new capabilities; and
  5. Strengthen recovery efforts by building back better to minimize the impacts of future disasters

Both the Framework and Strategy guide Federal-Provincial-Territorial emergency management cooperation and policy in Canada and are intended to be renewed every five years through consultations with provincial and territorial governments and key stakeholders. To this end, Public Safety will be working with all relevant partners to renew the EM Framework and Strategy over the course of 2025-26.

National Adaptation Strategy

Canada's National Adaptation Strategy (NAS), released in June 2023, outlines how our society and economy can be more resilient and prepared for the impacts of climate change. The NAS will build on the ongoing work of Canada's disaster risk reduction strategy, the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada, which was approved by Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers in 2019 and articulates priorities to strengthen whole-of-society resilience by 2030. Moreover, the NAS will also strengthen the way we improve health outcomes, build and maintain infrastructure, steward the environment, support a strong economy, and better integrate climate change adaptation with climate related disaster risk reduction.

The Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan (GOCAAP) is the federal plan to implement the NAS through organizing federal efforts on adaptation and provides an inventory of federal adaptation actions. A progress report on the NAS, expected in 2026, will provide a snapshot of collective progress in achieving the Strategy's goals, objectives and targets; inform policy and investment decisions; and promote transparency and accountability to the public.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is the overall lead department for the NAS, but Public Safety Canada is the system lead for Disaster Resilience, among a number of other federal system leads. The Disaster Resilience pillar includes a series of federal actions to support emergency management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation. Notable milestones amongst these actions include initiatives to further wildland fire resilience and mitigation, integrated flood risk management, EM communications, as well as overall data and evidence to support a greater understanding of disaster risk.

Search and Rescue (SAR)

SAR is an essential function of EM. PS provides federal leadership to strengthen and coordinate this life-saving capability. To do this, the National Search and Rescue Secretariat (NSS) leads the development and management of national SAR policies and programs in collaboration with other federal partners (e.g., Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian Coast Guard), provinces/territories, and other parties. This work spans the full spectrum of EM (i.e., prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery), for example: the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Program (HUSAR) enhances professionalized and technical response capabilities; the SAR New Initiatives Fund (SARNIF) builds the capacity of volunteer SAR organizations; and, Canada's participation and leadership in the International COSPAS-SARSAT Programme to detect and locate distressed aircraft, vessels and persons.

Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries in Public Safety Personnel

PS is working with stakeholders, including other federal departments, public safety personnel organizations, academics and PTs, to renew the National Action Plan on Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries in public safety personnel to identify gaps and better reflect mental health challenges post COVID, to be launched in early 2025. PS is also supporting families of first responders who have died as a result of their duties through the Memorial Grant Program. Both initiatives fall under the mandate of the Minister of Public Safety.

Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT)

The International COSPAS-SARSAT (CS) Programme is the international program that provides space-based monitoring and detection of over two million distress alert beacons carried on all International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aircraft, all International Maritime Organization (IMO) vessels subject to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) convention and by hundreds of thousands of individuals operating in remote locations. Canada, as one of the original developers of the system, is one of four Parties to the International COSPAS-SARSAT Programme Agreement (ICSPA) and is responsible, along with the other three Parties (France, USA and Russian Federation (COSPAS is the Russian SARSAT) for the administration and oversight of the 45 member state international organization. Canada is currently in the chairmanship of the organization.

Public Safety is the designated cooperating agency to the CS Programme and as such is responsible for the overall oversight of Canada's obligations under the agreement. It also appoints Canada's Permanent Representative (PR) to the International CS Programme. However, Canada's involvement is multi-departmental. Transport Canada (TC) is responsible for distress beacon carriage regulations, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) regulates within Canada the frequencies used by the Programme, multiple departments use the alert data and the Department of National Defence (DND) owns and operates the Canadian CS infrastructure.

2024 Wildfire Season Lessons Learned

Canada experienced a challenging wildfire season, particularly with regards to the Jasper wildfires in July of 2024. Under various Requests for Federal Assistance, one of the key Disaster Resilience pillar actions, the Government of Canada provided wildland fire fighting resources, humanitarian and logistical supports, as well as assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces. Team Rubicon Canada, under the Humanitarian Workforce Program (HWF), provided post wildfire mitigation services to Jasper, such as surveys, damage assessments, and post-fire mitigation.

For the 2024 wildfire season, all levels of government and Emergency Management (EM) teams across Canada were fully engaged in preparations and were in a high state of readiness given the gravity of the 2023 season.

Drawing on lessons learned from the 2023 wildfire season, federal partners such as Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Government Operations Centre (GOC) developed a series of early risk assessments that were shared (validated) with provinces/territories and presented to the public via Media Technical Briefings beginning in April.

The GOC actively engaged the federal family earlier in the season through governance committees at the Director General, Assistant Deputy Minister, Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management (SOREM), Deputy Minister and Cabinet levels, to ensure coordination and readiness across all levels of government.

The GOC also implemented innovative products to improve situational awareness for EM stakeholders such as the Cyclical Events National Common Operating Picture (CENCOP), universally lauded as a best practice. Finally Humanitarian Work Force (HWF) Pilots were developed and the GOC's Situational Awareness (SA) pilot was notably effective at improving SA on HWF capabilities and operations, allowing them to be employed more effectively. The GOC and programs in EMPB worked to ensure all five of the NGOs were utilized this summer via RFAs.

Significant efforts were also made to build and enhance capabilities to reduce the demand on the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). These included:

Overall, 2024 saw 5676 fires that burned through 5.35 million hectares (1.4 times the 10 year average) causing 44,000 people including over 15,000 first nations to be evacuated. To combat the wildfires, 1592 domestic firefighting resources were mobilized and supported by 792 international resources. In addition there were 6 RFAs to support Newfoundland Labrador, Alberta and Manitoba. The CAF's operation LENTUS ran for 41 days deploying 349 personnel over the season.

Following the 2024 wildfire season, the GOC exercise program has held multiple Federal consultations and DG and ADM CC held a roundtable discussion on lessons learned. GOC regions are also engaging FPTs at the working level on LL for the national summary. The discussions have resulted in the identification of best practices and / or areas for improvement that have been grouped under some key themes including preparedness, communication and situational awareness, governance and engagement, RFAs, and leveraging the HWF.

The Canadian Red Cross also launched a donation-matching appeal for Jasper, which was supported by the province. These donations were used for assisting those impacted in Jasper and other affected areas in Alberta with immediate and ongoing relief including financial assistance, support to evacuees and the communities hosting them, recovery and resilience efforts, as well as supporting community preparedness and risk reduction. Supports to date have included the provision of emergency supplies, mental health supports, support for commercial lodging, and direct financial assistance. Initially, CRC response teams were active on the ground in host communities such as Edmonton and Hinton. Once residents were permitted to return to the town of Jasper, on August 16, 2024, the CRC began work in the community to support ongoing recovery and this work is ongoing. The CRC will use the federal funds over a period of approximately 19 months (September 4, 2024 until March 31, 2026).

Despite tragic losses that families, communities and businesses have endured as a result of this event, investments in mitigation programs (e.g., FireSmart, installation of sprinkler systems) and preparedness actions (e.g., prescribed burning) likely have reduced the impact the fires could have had; evacuations were orderly, and critical infrastructure remains intact. This is an important lesson learned, and we continue to unpack others as we look back at our collective response to this event.

Integrated Flood Risk Management

Integrated flood risk management (IFRM) is systems-based framework that promotes sustainable, long-term flood resilience by combining social, economic, financial, environmental, and institutional solutions. In essence managing the risk posed by floods to an acceptable and affordable level, rather than seeking to control the physical waters from floods of all magnitudes of floods.

Aspects of the IFRM are underway through advancing several flood risk reduction initiatives:

Public Safety Canada has developed data science and engineering capacity to provide technical expertise and conduct high quality risk assessments based on cutting-edge data, models, and analytical methods. The technical expertise and analysis are used to support PS initiatives, and inform government-wide understanding of flood risk (e.g. Bank of Canada and OSFI).

DFAA Modernization

The DFAA, a PS program which has been in place for over 50 years, recently underwent a comprehensive review process aimed at making the program more effective and sustainable in the context of rising disaster risk in Canada. PS spent the past several years working closely with provinces and territories to review and then modernize the DFAA, and this work was informed by the findings of a ministerially-appointed expert Advisory Panel, international partners, and experts in the field. The new program, which will launch on April 1, 2025, is designed to better-target federal funding to improve recovery outcomes (especially for people and communities who are disproportionately impacted by disasters), invest in risk reduction, and reduce some of the incentives that help to perpetuate development in high risk areas.

Federal Flood Risk Identification

To help screen federal investments, PS is leveraging a procured license of a Canada-wide Flood Hazard Model, to create an aggregation of flood hazard data to create the Federally Identified Flood Risk Areas (FIFRA), which allows for risk ratings to be provided for the whole country. The FIFRA Initiative will identify flood areas across Canada to screen federal investments to ensure we are collectively taking action to guide potential federal infrastructure investments and identify the appropriate mitigation conditions.

Flood Risk Awareness Portal (Digital Resource)

The digital resource will use the FIFRA and, when a user enters an address, they will receive a rating of their flood hazard (low, medium, high, extreme) based on probabilistic flood hazard and multiple flood types (fluvial, pluvial, and coastal). This rating provides a first step in understanding possible flood risk at a location but is only suitable for screening and is designed for the general public. Additionally, through the digital resource, we will provide a link to Canada's Flood Mapping Inventory, where people will be able to access the detailed flood maps if available for their area. We will also provide guidance on flood risk reduction actions. The Flood Risk Awareness Digital Resource is set to launch in Fall 2025.

Emergency Communications for First Responders and Public Awareness

PS is leading the work to realize a nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) to provide a resilient communications platform for Canada's emergency responders and public safety personnel. A Government of Canada decision is required on the establishing a new authority to oversee and lead the development of the network. In addition, the National Public Alerting System (NPAS), publicly known as Alert Ready, which warns the public of imminent or unfolding hazards through cell phones, television and radio is an important tool for Canadians. With the licencing agreement the NPAS expiring in August 2026, Public Safety is working the FPT partners to address the sustainability of this essential capability.

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 associations, and non-governmental 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 release Advancing the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Emergency Management Strategy: Areas for Action. This new, evergreen action plan advances work in the five priority areas of activity delineated in the Emergency Management Strategy. This strategy sets out a first-ever shared federal-provincial-territorial vision for strong, resilient communities and calls for strengthened collaboration among all partners in emergency management, in accordance with each government's respective priorities, roles and responsibilities.

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.

PS, in collaboration with other government departments, has been supporting PT partners in all hazards response, including through the Humanitarian Workforce Program, established in 2021 to support national non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) in building and maintaining critical emergency response capabilities and deploying them in response to large-scale domestic emergency events, such as wildfires, floods and the COVID-19 pandemic PS is also exploring a longer-term approach and has been engaging with partners and stakeholders, including PTs, NGOs, Indigenous leaders, the private sector and academia on what a pan-Canadian civilian response capacity could look like in the future.

Federal, Provincial, and Territorial (FPT) Engagement

Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management (SOREM):

FPT engagement occurs across the Standing Forum of Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management (SOREM), who are responsible for coordinating a strategy for emergency management in Canada, and for providing guidance and advice on how to enhance emergency management in Canada. The group meets on a monthly basis to identify priorities, key activities and funding requirements for those activities and make recommendations in that regard to the standing forum of FPT Deputy Ministers; and supervises the work of several FPT working groups, e.g. the Public Alerting Working Group, Emergency Management Strategy Working Group, etc.

FPT DMs and Ministers Responsible for EM:

FPT engagement also occurs at the Deputy Minister and Ministerial levels, with the objective of fostering co-operation/discussion amongst governments with respect to Emergency Management in Canada. Meetings at both levels occur once a year, with the objective of bringing forth items for decision, and providing recommendations and direction to SOREM on files considered to be of shared priority within EM.

FPT DMs last met virtually in January 2024 to discuss lessons learned from the 2023 hazard season and to prepare for upcoming FPT Ministerial meetings.

FPT Ministers last met in person in Ottawa, in February 2024, and discussed progress on the work to build further resilience from coast to coast to coast for future emergencies, focusing on prevention and mitigation initiatives as well as robust response and recovery capabilities. This meeting was directly preceded by one between FPT ministers and National Indigenous Organizations on shared priorities and strengthening Indigenous emergency management.

FPT Ministers next meet in person in February 2025, in Ottawa. These meetings will include a dedicated session with leaders of National indigenous Organizations, a ceremony to honour recipients of the 2024-2025 Emergency Management Exemplary Service Awrad, and the annual meeting of FPT Ministers to discuss shared FPT EM priorities.

Borders

Developments around the border with the United States are forming into a comprehensive strategy for a complex situation. The strategic elements either formalized or under development are:

  1. US Engagement and communications Strategy and FPT engagement
  2. Assertively maintaining Border Integrity, resilience and enforcement: robust policy options to eliminate or minimize irregular migration, leverage STCA, and CBSA, RCMP, and PT resources to maintain border integrity and elasticity
  3. Although not as visible currently, the IRCC led 'asylum seeker model' used from 2018-2024 for irregular immigration management including short term accommodations, full social and medical supports, and engagement and transition to PT social welfare and support services
  4. Catastrophic Emergency (EM led) or National Crisis – if overwhelming surge where IRCC and normal asylum seeker numbers are vastly exceeded (i.e. greater than 1000 per day) which will require extraordinary measures to provide shelter and care and feeding and tens of thousands of irregular migrants from the U.S., e.g COVID-19-scale supports. The emergency management, border and national security organizations are working together on a whole of government approach.

As the lead for federal response coordination for emergency events, the GOC is already working to support to CBSA/RCMP in the enhancement of border activities and RFA coordination to leverage existing federal capabilities, specifically the CAF or our Humanitarian Workforce Program.

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