Introduction Emergency Management and to the Government Operations Centre (May 2025)

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Purpose

This deck presents an overview of the Government of Canada's Emergency Management (EM) system, related Ministerial authorities and responsibilities and the federal EM response system, highlighting key elements including:

Canadian Emergency Management Overview

Most emergencies are local in nature and are handled by local or provincial/territorial (PT) authorities.

When an emergency requires capabilities beyond those of a PT jurisdiction, they can submit a RFA. The number of RFAs has doubled since 2019 as the intensity of disaster events continues to increase.

When an emergency touches a federal government jurisdiction (e.g.: national security incident, event affecting First Nation on-reserve community), the federal government may take action.

Jurisdictions in Canada adopt an all-hazards approach by addressing vulnerabilities arising from natural and human-induced hazards and disasters.

Emergency events are increasing due to factors that include climate change, expanding cities, and reliance on critical infrastructure.

To date, efforts to support disaster recovery have had little impact in terms of incentivizing resiliency. Recent changes to federal programs are addressing this issue.

Key Ministerial Responsibilities

In practice, day-to-day responsibilities for EM are exercised though the EMPB within Public Safety Canada (PS).

Core activities for the Minister include:

Ministerial Authorities

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness has the legislated responsibility to exercise leadership relating to EM in Canada, including coordinating EM activities among government institutions and in cooperation with the provinces and other entities, EM activities.

In 2021, an Order in Council established the role of the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, who shared these responsibilities with the Minister of Public Safety.

A 2024 Order in Council transferred the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Public Safety under section 7 of the Emergency Management Act (EMA) to the Minister of Emergency Preparedness.

PS understands that the Privy Council Office will work to ensure that authorities are appropriately transferred to the Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience.

Through its Minister(s), Public Safety Canada (PS) has the legislative mandate to build a safe and resilient Canada by working with other federal departments and agencies, PTs, national and regional Indigenous organizations, as well as other stakeholders to advance policy, program and outreach across all pillars of EM.

Within PS, the GOC supports preparedness for and leads the coordination of the integrated federal response to all-hazard events.

Outside of PS, all federal ministers are responsible under the EMA (Section 6) for developing and exercising EM plans in relation to risks in their areas of accountability, meaning a decentralization of EM activities that cut across federal areas of responsibility.

Government Operations Centre

The GOC, established in 2004 under the National Security Policy, is Canada's national hub for 24/7 EM situational awareness and the federal coordination of consequence management for all disasters within federal jurisdiction and where events exceed PT capacity.

The GOC is implicated in 2 pillars of EM – Preparedness and Response.

The Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP) codifies the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of the GOC and specific departments that have an integral role in national safety.

Preparedness:

Response:

  1. Coordinate federal response to events
  2. Providing situational awareness to decision-makers
  3. Hazard and risk assessment
  4. Geospatial support
  5. Situational assessment
  6. Operational communications between federal operations centres

Other departments with EM responsibilities:

Emergency Response Levels

The GOC will activate to higher levels of response depending on scope and urgency of the event.

Baseline

The GOC monitors against set Reporting Criteria to develop and disseminate products such as the GOC Daily Operations Brief for partners to keep them informed of upcoming and ongoing events of national interest.

GOC Notifications are issued to federal, provincial, and territorial partners and offices when an ongoing or emerging event meets pre-determined criteria.

Flash Alerts are sent to senior decision-makers, primarily Deputy Ministers (DM), to inform them of events that have not yet met the threshold for reporting.

Level 1: Enhanced Reporting

The GOC focuses on raising awareness through increased monitoring and reporting, enhancing communication and information flow between PS Regional Offices, the GOC, and their respective partners.

Level 2: Risk Assessment and Planning

The GOC assesses risks, threats, their potential impacts, resource needs, and response gaps to identify potential federal involvement. Based on this assessment, an integrated response plan can be developed, and partners are preparing to send Subject Matter Experts and Liaison Officers to the GOC.

Level 3: Coordination of Federal Response

The GOC collaborates with PS Regional Offices to anticipate and coordinate RFAs, and may send Subject Matter Experts and Liaison Officers to ROs for effective federal-national and regional-federal coordination.

Plans and Frameworks (examples)

The GOC's approach to managing emergencies is guided by a series of plans and frameworks:

The Federal Emergency Response Plan

The FERP is the all-hazards framework that guides federal emergency response operations.

It outlines federal governance, roles and responsibilities - including alignment with those of PTs, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Federal response plans developed by other departments should align with the FERP, which applies to all-hazards domestic events, or international events that have a domestic impact.

Federal Institutions' responsibilities:

FERP (thus GOC) activated when:

GOC does:

Currently GOC does not:

ESFs in response:

There are clear Ministerial accountabilities regarding federal emergency response plans, but a whole-of-government aligned EM approach is needed. To this end, work to renew the FERP is ongoing.

Governance - High Level Roles and Responsibilities

There is a strong governance system in place for EM activities, and all partners are engaged in regular planning and preparedness activities.

During events, the governance is integral for maintaining visibility and engagement at all levels (as required and appropriate).

Image description

There are four governance tracts depicted in this image. The first, represented in green, relates to policy across all four EM pillars. The second, represented in blue, relates to EM practices and preparedness. The third, represented in yellow, relates to event response. The fourth, represented in grey, relates to national security.


For policy, governance starts with the Director General-level Emergency Management Committee. That feeds into the Assistant Deputy Minister-level EM Committee, which covers policy and operations and has a rotational agenda. That feeds into the DM-level EM Committee, which finally feeds into Cabinet Committee.

The EM practices & preparedness tract is the same as the policy tract except that it begins with the Director General-level EM Operations Committee.

For the Response tract, it starts with the Director General Crisis Cell (which has coordination with both the Director General-level EM Operations Committee and the Critical Infrastructure and Cyber Security coordinating bodies). It feeds in the Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer, who feeds into the Assistant Deputy Minister Crisis Cell, which feeds into the Federal Coordinating Officer before feeding into the DM EM Committee. It ends at Cabinet Committee as well.

There is coordination between the Assistant Deputy Minister-level EM Committee, the Assistant Deputy Minister crisis Cell, the Federal Coordinating Officer, and the Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer.

For the National Security tract, it starts with there is the ongoing presence of the Critical Infrastructure and Cyber Security coordinating bodies. However, committee-based governance begins at the Assistant Deputy Minister National Security Operations Committee. That feeds into the DM's Operations Committee which then feeds into, at the end, Cabinet Committee.

There is coordination between the Assistant Deputy Minister Crisis Cell and the Assistant Deputy Minister National Security Operations Committee.

There is coordination between the Assistant Deputy Minister National Security Operations Committee and the DM EM Committee.

Also, there is coordination between the DM EM Committee and the DM Operations Committee.

Normal Day to Day Situational Awareness and Information Dissemination

Image description

The GOC stands at the center of normal information dissemination. It provides definitive national-level situation awareness.


Incoming sources of information include: industries and private sectors, media, non-government organizations, PT EM organizations, chief information officers, national capital region operation intersect, chief security officers, federal operations centres, national security, security and intelligence, Canadian centre for cyber security, PS regional offices, federal coordination groups, federal departments and agencies, and international partners of the GOC.

There are five levels of information dissemination. DL-1 is information releasable to critical infrastructure partners and to the public. DL-2 is information releasable to all federal departments and agencies. DL-3 is information releasable to authorized organizations and key decision-makers. DL-4 is information releasable to authorized federal organizations. DL-5 is information where no further dissemination is authorized.

Requests For Federal Assistance

A RFA is the formalization of request to the federal government to provide support in a response to an emergency.

Federal assistance can be requested when a PT has exceeded their capacity to respond, and all other resources have been exhausted.

The GOC, with the PS Regional offices, receive and coordinate RFAs.

Prior to 2020, a baseline for RFAs was 5-10 per year. RFAs peaked in response to COVID-19 (150 RFAs in 2021-2023), and have decreased in a post-pandemic period. With the continuation of the Humanitarian Workforce Program and improved EM literacy across the country, the number of RFAs have not returned to the previous baseline.

Types of Requests for Federal Assistance

Below are the types of RFAs coordinated by the GOC.

General Request for Federal Assistance

Assistance to Federal Law Enforcement Agencies

General Request for Federal Assistance with Humanitarian Workforce Program

Delegated Authority

Other types of Federal Supports

There are also non-RFA supports provided through other government departments.

For example, RCMP:

For example, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and Health Canada (HC):

Other examples of Federal Support:

Annex A: What is the Request for Federal Assistance Process?

Process:

  1. PTs and other Federal departments request Federal Assistance. First Nations communities will work in collaboration with PTs and/or Indigenous Services Canada
  2. Requests are sent to the GOC via the PS Regional Office
  3. GOC sources federal or private resources
  4. Minister of Public Safety approves or denies the request

Legislation:

Governance:

Assessment Criteria:

Annex B: Single Window for Requests for Federal Assistance

For EM RFAs:

For Public Health Request for Assistance:

Federal Resources:

RFA:

Federal Assessment and Prioritization:

Best Practices:

Annex C: 26 Federal Institutions

  1. Transport Canada
  2. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
  3. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  4. Canadian Food Inspection Agency
  5. Natural Resources Canada
  6. PHAC
  7. HC
  8. Environment and Climate Change Canada
  9. RCMP
  10. Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
  11. PS
  12. Canada Border Services Agency
  13. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
  14. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
  15. Canada Post
  16. Communications Security Establishment Canada
  17. Canadian Security Intelligence Service
  18. Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada / Canadian Coast Guard
  19. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
  20. Indigenous Services Canada
  21. Department of Justice
  22. Privy Council Office
  23. Department of National Defense
  24. CAF
  25. Employment and Social Development Canada
  26. Public Services and Procurement Canada

Annex D: Federal Emergency Support Functions

Table 1 - Emergency Support Functions of Government of Canada Departments
Emergency Support Function Primary Institutions (Response Leads)
ESF 1 Transportation Transport Canada
ESF 2 Tele-communications Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
ESF 3 Agriculture and Agri-Food Agriculture and Agri Food Canada/Canadian Food Inspection
ESF 4 Energy Production and Distribution Natural Resources Canada
ESF 5 Public Health and Essential Human Services HC/ PHAC
ESF 6 Environment Environment and Climate Change Canada
ESF 7 Human and Social Services Employment and Social Development Canada
ESF 8 Law Enforcement RCMP
ESF 9 International Coordination Global Affairs Canada
ESF 10 Government Services Public Services and Procurement Canada
ESF 11 Logistics Operations Management PS
ESF 12 Communications PS
ESF 13 Border Services Canada Border Services Agency
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