A report from Public Safety Canada found that First Nations communities and individuals are disproportionately affected by wildfires with 43% of First Nations communities being evacuated despite making up 5% of Canada’s overall population. Many First Nations communities have deferred emergency management preparedness preparations due to the volume of consultation and engagement requests received for economic development and from municipalities seeking to adhere to B.C.’s Emergency Disaster Management’s Act (EDMA) requirements for Indigenous engagement.

This workshop will empower First Nations communities to support Chief and Council to prioritize emergency management and preparedness and will provide actionable strategies for enhanced emergency management collaboration with other Nations. Topics of discussion will include:

• Defining what an effective Emergency Supportive Services program looks like
• Creating a Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Analysis (HRVA) that complies with Section 2 (1) of the Local Authority Emergency Management Regulation of the BC Emergency Program Act
• Establishing what nations need to do prior to an event for better emergency preparedness
• Reviewing preparedness gaps and identifying other training required