The Memorial Grant Program for First Responders Terms and Conditions

1. Authorities

Under section 4(1) of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act, the powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction — and that have not been assigned by law to another department, board or agency of the Government of Canada — relating to public safety and emergency preparedness.

Under section 4(2) the Minister is also responsible for exercising leadership at the national level relating to public safety and emergency preparedness.

Under paragraphs 6(1) (a) and (c), the Minister, in exercising his or her powers and in performing his or her duties and functions and with due regard to the powers conferred on the provinces and territories, may initiate, recommend, coordinate, implement or promote policies, programs or projects relating to public safety and emergency preparedness; and may make grants or contributions.

Combined, these authorities generally enable the Minister to provide programs such as the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders and other grants or contributions within Public Safety Canada (PS).

2. Definitions

These terms and conditions apply in relation to a First Responder residing in a Province or Territory that has signed a Memorandum of Agreement in respect of this Memorial Grant with Canada.

For the purposes of this Memorial Grant Program, the following definitions apply to these terms and conditions:

First Responder: An individual who was employed or formally engaged to carry out the duties of a police officer, firefighter, paramedic, correctional officer, parole officer or probation officer by a Canadian emergency service in Canada.

Police Officer: An individual who was employed or formally engaged as a volunteer, auxiliary or reservist by a provincial, territorial, regional, municipal or indigenous police service to perform duties that protect the public; detect, prevent or investigate crime; or perform other policing activities. This may also include those who plan, organize, direct, and control police force administration and police activities. At the federal level, this includes the following individuals in respect of the officers and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police commonly known as:

• Regular Members;
• Community Constables;
• Reserve Constables;
• Auxiliary Constables; and
• Supernumerary Special Constables.

Firefighter: An individual who was employed or formally engaged as a volunteer, auxiliary or reservist by a provincial, territorial, regional, municipal or indigenous fire service to perform firefighting, fire prevention activities, and assist in other emergencies. This may also include those who plan, organize, direct, and control firefighting operations and fire prevention activities.

Paramedic: An individual who was employed or formally engaged as a volunteer, auxiliary or reservist by a provincial, territorial, regional, municipal or indigenous paramedic or ambulance service to perform duties related to the administration of pre-hospital emergency medical care to patients with injuries or medical illnesses, including transportation to hospitals or other medical facilities for further emergency medical care. A paramedic may also be known as an emergency medical attendant (EMA), emergency medical technician (EMT), and ambulance attendant.

Correctional, Parole, and Probation Officer: An individual who was employed or formally engaged by a federal, provincial, territorial, regional, municipal, or indigenous correctional service who was responsible for the custody, safety, security, and supervision of persons whom have been arrested, are awaiting trial or inmates in a penitentiary, prison or any other correctional facility or institution, are on conditional release or other persons as deemed by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Eligible beneficiaries: An individual who is able to demonstrate and provides evidence of relationship to a deceased first responder as described below. Eligible beneficiaries are to be determined and paid in accordance with the following descending order of priority:

• the spouse or common-law partner as the case may be; or
• if there is no surviving spouse or common-law partners, to a surviving child or children divided in equal amounts; or
• if there is no surviving child, to a surviving parent or parents divided in equal amounts, or
• if there is no surviving parent, to surviving brothers and sisters divided in equal amounts; or
• if there is no surviving brothers or sisters, to the deceased's estate.

3. Objectives

The objective of this Memorial Grant is to recognize the service and sacrifice of Canada's first responders as defined above whose deaths are attributable to their duties, including deaths resulting from occupational illness or psychological impairment (i.e., suicide), while keeping Canadians safe.

4. Key Expected Results and Indicators

As an acknowledgement of the critical role that first responders play in protecting Canadians, the Memorial Grant for First Responders is intended to recognize the service and sacrifice of Canada's first responders, resulting in a well supported community of first responders and their families.

The program contributes to the achievement of departmental and governmental objectives by contributing to enhanced public safety, ultimately leading to a safe and resilient Canada. The program aligns with section 1.3.2, Law Enforcement Leadership of PS's Program Activity Architecture, which provides leadership to Canada's law enforcement community.

The Performance Measurement Strategy for this program outlines a plan that will be implemented by the Department to ensure that there is sufficient performance information available to effectively plan, monitor, and report on results throughout the delivery of the Program, and to effectively support evaluation of the Program.

5. Eligible Recipients and Criteria

Eligible recipients must be an "eligible beneficiary" as defined in these terms and conditions and the death of the first responder must meet all of the following incident eligibility criteria.

Incident Eligibility

For the purposes of this Memorial Grant Program for First Responders, death must be attributable to, and resulting from the performance of duties in the following circumstances:

• Death resulting from a fatal injury (e.g., gunshot wound, stabbing, car accident, etc.) while actively engaged in the duties of a first responder in Canada
• Death resulting from an occupational illness primarily resulting from employment as a first responder (e.g., lung cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, heart injury or other illness). Following established provincial and territorial practices; a presumptive list of occupational illnesses and related years of service will be established and maintained by Public Safety Canada based on current scientific evidence.
• Death resulting from or reasonably attributable to psychological impairment, specifically suicide, based on a pre-existing diagnosis or multiple separate affidavits, as stipulated in Section 11.

The date of death must be on or after April 1, 2018.

The Memorial Grant will not be paid in the following situations:

• If the fatal injury was caused by the intentional misconduct of the first responder or the deceased's intention to bring about their death, except in cases of psychological impairment (i.e., suicide);
• If the first responder was voluntarily impaired at the time of their fatal injury, except in cases of psychological impairment (i.e., suicide); or
• If the first responder was not performing their duties in good faith at the time of their fatal injury.

6. Eligible Activities

The Memorial Grant for First Responders is intended to recognize the service and sacrifice of Canada's first responders in keeping Canadians safe. The Memorial Grant may be payable following signature by a Province or Territory of a Memorandum of Agreement with Canada, submission of a properly completed application and a determination that:

• The applicant is considered to be an eligible beneficiary of a first responder as described above; and
• The death of the first responder must be attributable to and resulting from the performance of their duties.

7. Eligible Expenditures

Upon receipt of the Memorial Grant amount, the eligible beneficiary[ies] may incur any expenditure that they determine will appropriately recognize the service and sacrifice of the deceased first responder.

8. Maximum Amount

The maximum amount payable to any eligible Memorial Grant recipient(s) will be a one-time, lump sum of $300,000 per death. In instances when the Memorial Grant would be divided amongst multiple recipients in equal amounts, the total amount paid out would not exceed $300,000 (e.g., two eligible surviving children would receive $150,000 each).

9. Method for Determining Funding Amount

Upon determination of eligibility, the eligible beneficiary[ies] will receive a one-time, lump sum payment of $300,000. If there are multiple eligible beneficiaries, as stipulated in section 8, the amount will be divided amongst all eligible beneficiaries in equal amounts.

10. Stacking

As PS is the only federal department offering this Memorial Grant in recognition of the service and sacrifice of Canada's first responders, the stacking limit for this program is 100%.

11. Application Requirements

Every application for the Memorial Grant must include documentary evidence that establishes:

• the identity of the deceased First responder;
• the identity of the applicant;
• the relationship between the deceased First responder and the applicant (e.g., marriage certificate, birth certificate, divorce certificates, adoption certificates, affidavits, statutory declarations and any other similar documents as may be required to determine eligibility); and
• a court certified copy of the Will, letters of administration or other similar documentation, as may be required if there is no eligible beneficiary for the purposes of the Memorial Grant.

For death resulting from fatal injury, the application must include, in addition to the above:

• A duly completed application form
• Attestation from an authority authorized to represent the employer organization that attests and confirms that the individual was employed or formally engaged by the police, paramedic, firefighting, correctional, parole or probation service to perform functions and acted in an official capacity at the time the fatal injury occurred, including a description of the circumstances of the fatal injury;
• Medical records or other records that document the first responder's injury, including the primary cause of death and other contributing factors;
• Certified true copy of the death certificate and,
• Other documents or evidence as may be required to confirm eligibility.

For death resulting from occupational illness, the application must include in addition to the above:

• A duly completed application form
• Attestation from an authority authorized to represent the employer organization that attests and confirms the length of time that the individual was employed or formally engaged by the police, paramedic, firefighting, correctional, parole or probation service,
• Medical records or other records that document the first responder's disease and diagnosis;
• Medical reports or other records that document the primary cause of death and other contributing factors;
• Certified true copy of the death certificate; and,
• Other documents or evidence as may be required to confirm eligibility.

For death resulting from psychological impairment, the application must include in addition to the above:

• A duly completed application form
• Attestation from an authority authorized to represent the employer organization that attests and confirms that the individual was employed or formally engaged by the police, paramedic,firefighting, correctional, parole or probation service to perform functions and acted in an official capacity
• Medical records or other records that document the first responder's pre-existing diagnosis of an operational stress injury due to their engagement and/or employment as a first responder;
• In the absence of a pre-existing diagnosis, multiple separate affidavits from family members living in the same household, friends, employer and/or colleagues attesting to the perceived mental state of the first responder;
• Certified true copy of the death certificate; and,
• Other documents or evidence as may be required to establish eligibility.

12. Official Languages

The Program will comply with all applicable requirements stipulated in the Official Languages Act and related regulations, as well as federal policies in this regard, including Chapter 4-1 of the Official Languages Policy.

Date modified:

2022-06-22