Parliamentary Committee Notes: National Risk Profile
Issue
Background on the National Risk Profile (NRP), including current status and approach.
Proposed Response
- Hazards such as floods, wildfires, and extreme heat are increasing in frequency and severity, and represent a mounting threat to the safety of Canadians and the economic viability of Canadian businesses and communities as demonstrated by this year’s unprecedented and deadly wildland fire season and other disaster events. As Canada’s first strategic, national-level disaster risk and capability assessment, the National Risk Profile, or NRP, uses scientific evidence and whole-of-society stakeholder input to increase national resilience to these events.
- The NRP is based on input and evidence from across levels of government, academia, as well as Indigenous and other emergency management organizations. It builds on current knowledge and provides evidence to identify, compare, and prioritize which hazards are the most concerning, and highlights gaps in our ability to prevent, mitigate, respond, and recover from disasters.
- The NRP is a key critical action under the National Adaptation Strategy, as it helps integrate adaptation principles into emergency management, informing decision-making and strategic investments for disaster risk reduction and resilience building.
- The first NRP public report was released on May 11, 2023, and focuses on earthquakes, wildland fires and floods, as well as the cascading impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on these hazards. Future rounds will focus on other natural hazards as well as human-induced hazards, such as industrial leaks, and non-malicious and malicious threats.
- Moving forward, the Government of Canada will continue to use this evidence base to build awareness of the disaster risks facing Canada and the importance of collective and coordinated preparedness.
Backgound
Disasters in Canada are increasing in frequency and severity, with mounting economic and health impacts for all orders of government and people in Canada. This year, Canadians lived through the worst wildland fire season on record, as well as other deadly disaster events such as flooding impacting western, northern and eastern Canada. This is expected to continue into the foreseeable future as a result of various risk drivers, including climate change, increasing urban density in Canada, and in some cases, industrial emissions.Footnote1
The Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030 (EMS) was endorsed by FPT Ministers Responsible for Emergency Management, in January 2019. It builds on previous FPT efforts by establishing five priorities to strengthen the resilience of Canada by 2030. The priority areas seek to guide FPT governments, and their respective emergency management partners, in carrying out actions to strengthen Canada’s ability to understand risk and to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
The National Risk Profile (NRP) is a deliverable under the EMS and supports priorities to enhance whole-of-society collaboration and governance to strengthen resilience, and improve the understanding of disaster risks in all sectors of society. The NRP is also a mandate letter commitment for the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, as a means to inform decision-making and planning.
The NRP is a national, evidence-based, forward-looking picture of Canada's disaster risks and capabilities. It is used as an evidence base and awareness tool to strengthen national resilience to hazards and threats. For Canadians, it outlines the potential impacts of a disaster (e.g., increased insurance costs, changing building practices) as well as how climate change and other risk drivers are affecting disaster risk, thereby raising awareness of hazards they may face and the need to be prepared. By leveraging a national evidence base on disaster risk, the NRP can inform climate change adaptation efforts aimed at increasing resilience, such as the National Adaptation Strategy.
The NRP is based on input from, and consultation with, a wide range of national stakeholders from across the Government of Canada, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, Indigenous organizations, research institutes, non-governmental organizations, and other emergency management organizations. It provides evidence to identify, compare, and prioritize hazard risk, and highlights where there are capability gaps in our ability to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters.
The NRP is being implemented in rounds. The first round focused on floods, wildland fires and earthquakes, as well as on the cascading impacts of pandemics such as COVID-19 on emergency management for these hazards. The first NRP public report was released on May 11, 2023 during Emergency Preparedness Week 2023 (May 7-13, 2023).
Future rounds will focus on other natural hazards. For instance, the next round of the NRP, which is already underway, focuses on three new hazards: extreme heat events, hurricanes, and space weather. A risk assessment has been conducted with experts on hazards and impacts, and additional discussions are taking place with representatives of vulnerable communities to ensure their voices are included. Capability assessment surveys will move forward in the near term. Eventually the NRP will cover all hazards, including hazards and threats that are human-induced and/or have malicious intent. Moving forward, the Government of Canada will continue to promote a national culture of emergency preparedness and resilience.
Footnotes
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