Indigenous communities and local government emergency management resources

Last updated on April 14, 2025

Emergency management for local communities:

Make and maintain emergency plans
Response operations guides and templates
Recovery and post-disaster resources
Emergency Support Services
Funding for community response and recovery
Training staff and volunteers
Volunteer programs we work with

We provide tools and resources to support local emergency management, acknowledging that there may be unique cultural and legislative considerations.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, Four Pillars - emergency management resources for communities. View past issues of the newsletter.

Emergency program planning

Emergency planning at the community level is managed by the Indigenous governing body or local governments.

Create and maintain your emergency plan
Use the Climate Ready BC hub for data and maps
Disaster mitigation helps reduce the costs and risk of major damage caused by a disaster
Share preparedness resources with your community

A First Nations Guide to Emergency Management Self-Resiliency was added to the create and maintain your emergency plan.

Response and recovery operations

Guidance and templates for emergency operations.

Declaring a state of local emergency
Evacuation guidance
Financial claims for responding to an emergency
Re-entry and recovery resources

Indigenous communities and local governments | Recovery resources

Emergency Support Services

The Emergency Support Services (ESS) program develops guidance and training for your local ESS team to provide short-term, basic support to people impacted by disasters.

This section helps you build your team, onboard the Evacuee Registration and Assistance (ERA) tool, and understand how ESS is delivered.

Training and education

Emergency management training opportunities for emergency responders is provided by the province.

Education programs and toolkits for youth education and social media messaging packages.

The provincial emergency exercise program is for government and our partners to practice responding to an emergency.

Financial support programs

Financial support programs for community-level mitigation, response and recovery.

Public safety volunteers (PSLV)

Volunteers are managed at a local level. We provide liability and safety support, and some funding, to these volunteer programs.

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The B.C. Public Service acknowledges the territories of First Nations around B.C. and is grateful to carry out our work on these lands. We acknowledge the rights, interests, priorities, and concerns of all Indigenous Peoples - First Nations, Métis, and Inuit - respecting and acknowledging their distinct cultures, histories, rights, laws, and governments.