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States of emergency in Canada

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A state of emergency occurs when any level of government assumes authority it does not generally possess to respond to a crisis. This is done by invoking said authority under specific legislation, and permits the government to expend funds, mobilize forces, or suspend civil liberties.

Declarations

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Federal

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The Canadian government has declared a state of emergency four times, three in the 20th century and under the authority of the War Measures Act and one under the Emergencies Act. Under the War Measures, the three declared were:

In 1988, Parliament replaced the War Measures Act with the Emergencies Act, which extended the powers beyond war applications. The sole application has been:

Provincial and territorial

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Historically, states of emergency have been declared by provinces for internal issues. Save for the 2004 White Juan Blizzard, until 2020 there had never been a situation where multiple provinces made a province wide declaration. This changed during the COVID-19 pandemic where every province and territory made the declaration, opposing similar measures from the federal government. Every province has the ability to assume emergency powers under either a specific emergency act or under a public health act. In some provinces, like British Columbia, both exist and can grant specific authorities. British Columbia's Civil Defence Act[1] was enacted in 1951 and renamed the Emergency Program Act in 1973.[2]

List of emergency declarations in the provinces and territories 1867-2019
Year Event Province/Territory Under the Authority of
1948 River flood British Columbia[3][4] Army Act (UK)[5]
1966 Ferry Strike Prince Edward Island Emergency Measures Act[6]
1989 Forest Fires Manitoba[7]
1999 Snow Storm Quebec[8]
2003 SARS outbreak Ontario Emergency Management Act[9]
Wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[10]
Northeast blackout Ontario Emergency Management Act[11]
2004 White Juan blizzard Nova Scotia Emergency Measures Act[12]
Prince Edward Island Emergency Measures Act[12]
2011 Floods Manitoba Emergency Measures Act[13]
2013 Floods Alberta Emergency Management Act[14]
2014 Assiniboine River flood Manitoba Emergency Measures Act [15][16]
2016 Fort McMurray wildfire Alberta Emergency Management Act[17]
Opioid epidemic British Columbia Public Health Act[18][19]
2017 Wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[10][20][21]
2018 Wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[22]
2019 Snow storm Manitoba Emergency Measures Act[15][16][23]
List of emergency declarations in the provinces and territories 2020-
Year Event Province/Territory Under the Authority of
2020 COVID-19 pandemic Alberta [a] Public Health Act[24][25]
British Columbia Emergency Program Act and Public Health Act[18][26]
Manitoba Emergency Measures Act[27]
New Brunswick Emergency Measures Act[26][28]
Newfoundland and Labrador Public Health Protection and Promotion Act[26]
Nova Scotia Health Protection Act[29][30]
Ontario [b] Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act[31][32]
Prince Edward Island Public Health Act[33]
Quebec Public Health Act[34][35]
Saskatchewan Emergency Planning Act[26]
Northwest Territories Public Health Act[26]
Nunavut Public Health Act[36]
Yukon Civil Emergency Measures Act[37][38]
2021 Wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[39][40]
COVID-19 pandemic Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act[41]
Nova Scotia Health Protection Act[42]
New Brunswick Emergency Measures Act[43]
Alberta Public Health Act[44]
Pacific Northwest floods British Columbia Emergency Program Act[45]
2022 Freedom Convoy protest Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act[46]
2023 Wildfires British Columbia Emergency Program Act[47]
Alberta Emergency Management Act[48]
Northwest Territories Emergency Management Act[49]
Floods Nova Scotia Emergency Management Act[50]

Notes

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  1. ^ Alberta has declared two states of emergency directly related to the pandemic
  2. ^ Ontario has declared three states of emergency directly related to the pandemic

References

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  1. ^ "Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1960". HER Online.
  2. ^ "Table of Statutes - Repealed, Replaced and Renamed". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Army Takes Control Of B.C. Flood Areas: Premier Calls Official State Of Emergency". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 1 June 1948. ProQuest 1313879767.
  4. ^ "B.C. Fights Flood, Looters". The Windsor Daily Star. 1 June 1948. p. 1.
  5. ^ Fricke, Erwin (1 June 1948). "First Dike Goes At Creston". Nelson Daily News.
  6. ^ "P.E.I, declares emergency, ready to take over ferries". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 25 August 1966. ProQuest 1316369027.
  7. ^ York, Geoffrey (24 July 1989). "Forest fires force 16,500 to flee homes: Manitoba government declares a general state of emergency". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. A1. ProQuest 1237730616.
  8. ^ Balfour, Clair; Johnson, William (5 March 1999). "State of emergency is proclaimed in Quebec as Island of Montreal is isolated by blizzard: Incomplete Source". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. A20. ProQuest 1133680531.
  9. ^ Bruton, Bob (20 March 2020). "COVID-19 Pandemic is Ontario's 3rd state of emergency – Barrie 360Barrie 360". Barrie 360. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  10. ^ a b Infrastructure, Transportation and (7 July 2017). "Provincial state of emergency declared". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  11. ^ Van Rijn, Nicholaas (August 15, 2003). "BLACKOUT: Eves declares state of emergency and warns of rolling power outages for 'weeks to come'". Toronto Star (Special ed.). Toronto.
  12. ^ a b "Storm puts Nova Scotia, PEI in state of emergency". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Manitoba intensifies flood fight effort". CBC News.
  14. ^ "Review and Analysis of the Government of Alberta's Response to and Recovery from 2013 Floods" (PDF). Alberta.ca. 8 February 2024.
  15. ^ a b Hatherly, Dana. "Manitoba to declare state of emergency due to October snowstorm". CBC News.
  16. ^ a b Gibson, Victoria (18 March 2020). "Analysis: States of emergency across Canada, what's been done before, and what can be done now". iPolitics. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Evacuation order expanded ahead of Fort McMurray fire". CTVNews. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  18. ^ a b Health (17 March 2020). "Joint statement on Province of B.C.'s COVID-19 response, latest updates". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  19. ^ "B.C. first in Canada to declare public health emergency after fentanyl overdoses - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  20. ^ "British Columbia declares state of emergency over wildfires - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. The Canadian Press. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  21. ^ "B.C. declares state of emergency over wildfires - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Provincial state of emergency declared". BC Gov News. 15 August 2018.
  23. ^ Lambert, Steve (14 October 2019). "State of emergency in Manitoba amid unprecedented snowstorm". CTVNews. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  24. ^ Black, Matthew (17 March 2020). "'The situation is very serious': COVID-19 pandemic prompts Alberta to declare a state of public health emergency". Edmonton. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Alberta enacts 2nd COVID-19 state of public health emergency. Here's what it means". Global News.
  26. ^ a b c d e Dawson, Tyler (15 April 2020). "As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, provinces declared states of emergency. Now many are up for renewal". National Post.
  27. ^ "Province of Manitoba | News Releases | Manitoba Government Declares State of Emergency to Protect the Public, Reduce Spread of COVID-19". Province of Manitoba. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  28. ^ "7 things to know about NB's Emergency Measures Act". CBC News.
  29. ^ "Nova Scotia declares state of emergency, announces 7 new cases of COVID-19". Global News. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  30. ^ Gorman, Michael. "The powers of N.S.'s Health Protection Act and what can happen if you don't listen". CBC News.
  31. ^ "Ontario Enacts Declaration of Emergency to Protect the Public". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  32. ^ "Ontario issuing stay-at-home order, declares 3rd state of emergency amid COVID-19 pandemic". Global News. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  33. ^ "Premier announces initial financial support, declares public health emergency". www.princeedwardisland.ca. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  34. ^ "COVID-19: Legault declares a public health emergency". Montreal. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  35. ^ "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Québec". www.quebec.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  36. ^ "Nunavut declares state of public health emergency". CBC News.
  37. ^ "Yukon declares state of emergency in response to COVID-19". yukon.ca. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  38. ^ "Yukon declares public health emergency over COVID-19 pandemic". CBC News.
  39. ^ Brady, Sean. "Provincial state of emergency declared in B.C. due to wildfires". Kamloops This Week. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  40. ^ General, Public Safety and Solicitor (20 July 2021). "Provincial state of emergency declared | BC Gov News". news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  41. ^ "Ontario Newsroom". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  42. ^ Scotia, Communications Nova (11 May 2018). "One New Case of COVID-19, Three Recoveries, State of Emergency Renewed". News Releases. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  43. ^ "N.B. COVID-19 roundup: State of emergency reinstated as 3 more deaths recorded".
  44. ^ "Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Tuesday, Sept. 21".
  45. ^ "Provincial state of emergency declared". BC Gov News. 17 November 2021.
  46. ^ Carter, Adam. "Ontario declares state of emergency in response to convoy protests". CBC News. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  47. ^ Hall, Josh. "B.C. state of emergency helps rapid response to raging wildfires: Eby". rdnewsnow.com. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  48. ^ Pasiuk, Emily. "Provincial state of emergency declared in Alberta as wildfires spread and more residents flee". CBC News.
  49. ^ Blake·, Emily (16 August 2023). "Minister declares NWT-wide state of emergency". cabinradio.ca. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  50. ^ Scotia, Communications Nova (11 May 2018). "Provincewide State of Emergency Lifted". News Releases. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
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