Assistance to Alberta

OTTAWA: Gerald Soroka, Member of Parliament for Yellowhead, wishes to advise that a Request
for Federal Assistance from the Province of Alberta to support their efforts to combat the significant
wildfire situation in the province has been approved.

Authorization has been given to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to provide:

• personnel and resources to assist and enable fire fighting;
• airlift resources for mobility and logistical tasks, including the evacuation of isolated
communities; and
• engineering support, including heavy equipment resources, as capacity allows.
CAF resources will be provided for an initial period of two weeks, with a one-week extension
possible following a joint evaluation of the situation to determine if support is still required.
In addition to the CAF deployment, the federal government is also providing the following supports:
• Public Services and Procurement Canada will provide contracting support to the province
for supplies or logistics.
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police will continue to support with response efforts and, as
the contracted police of jurisdiction, support matters of law enforcement.
• Employment and Social Development Canada will support impacted Canadians with
enhanced Service Canada hours, outreach to evacuees, and deployment of mobile units to
evacuation centres to support applications for services, such as employment insurance.
• Indigenous Service Canada’s Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP) will
support the response and recovery efforts for Alberta’s on-reserve First Nations
communities currently experiencing the effects of the wildland fires. Affected communities
require prompt coordination of actions to protect the health, safety or welfare of all, and
limit damages to property, infrastructure, and the environment. EMAP supports impacted
communities through agency response via the wildland fire and the emergency management
service agreements with the Province of Alberta, resource coordination, organizational
structure and evacuee supports. Once the response phase is over, the Program will provide
recovery support for repairs to on-reserve community infrastructure to restore to pre-event
conditions, mitigation measures to infrastructure to minimize future impacts and personal
losses.
• Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Emergency Strategic Stockpile is engaged and
has already shipped requested supplies and is standing by to provide more if required.
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is working with the province of
Alberta and telecommunications service providers to keep people connected.
• Parks Canada is sending an 18-member Incident Command Team to support the Province
of Alberta. These wildland fire management specialists are trained to manage complex fires
and other incidents. This deployment is being coordinated through the Canadian Interagency
Forest Fire Centre.

Emergency Management Assistance Program
https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1534954090122/1535120506707

National emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS)
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/emergency-preparednessresponse/national-emergency-strategic-stockpile.html

Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre
https://www.ciffc.ca/