Communities across Canada are more and more often facing the realities of extreme weather events and natural disasters - like wildfires, flood and hurricanes.

“The effects of climate change are having a significant impact across Canada and it’s necessary to explore options to bolster our national readiness posture in a collaborative way. The Government of Canada looks forward to working with partners and stakeholders in the coming weeks to better understand how we can collectively improve our approach to emergency management to effectively respond to emergencies across the country.”

- The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness 

• In addition to online submissions, the government will also seek the input of provinces and territories, Indigenous leadership, academia, and other key emergency management stakeholders through in-person and virtual roundtable discussions in the coming weeks.

• In Canada, emergencies are managed first at the municipal level and if assistance is needed, the municipality requests it from the province or territory. If the emergency escalates further, provinces and territories can request assistance from the federal government to help coordinate support when and where it’s needed.

• In 2022, the Government of Canada established the Supporting a Humanitarian Workforce to Respond to COVID-19 and Other Large-Scale Emergencies (HWF) program to support both capacity building and domestic response resources to four of Canada’s top emergency management non-governmental organizations. 

• Since its inception, the Government of Canada has provided more than $166.9 million to the Canadian Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, The Salvation Army, and SARVAC through the HWF program, that has allowed these organizations to develop capacity to mobilize more quickly in response to past events and deploy critical on-the-ground support to provincial, territorial and local governments.

• While the HWF program represents an important step in building readiness and response capacity of NGOs, the Government of Canada recognizes that a sustainable whole-of-society, pan-Canadian approach for civilian response capacity is needed to keep pace with the evolving threat environment and help strengthen Canada’s preparedness for future all-hazard emergency events.

• The HWF program and engagement on advancing a pan-Canadian civilian response capacity supports the priorities of the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada which seek to strengthen the resilience of Canadian society by 2030. This investment contributes to enhancing disaster response capacity and coordination and fosters the development of new capabilities.

• Additionally, these initiatives support the National Adaptation Strategy’s objectives to build resilient communities and to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters.

Associated links

• Share your thoughts: advancing a pan-Canadian civilian response capacity
• Government of Canada funds NGOs to build capacity, respond to emergencies, and keep communities safe
• Government of Canada continues to build disaster response capacity to large-scale disasters
• Humanitarian Workforce: COVID 19 and other large-scale emergencies
• Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030
• Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy: Building Resilient Communities and a Strong Economy

Joanna Kanga
Press Secretary
Office of the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness
Joanna.Kanga@kpc-cpr.gc.ca

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
media@ps-sp.gc.ca