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Description:
The Emergency Preparedness Act provides for advancing civil preparedness in Canada for emergencies of all types, including war and other armed conflict, by facilitating and co-ordinating, among and in co-operation with provincial governments, foreign governments and international organisations, the development of civil emergency plans. In the context of this legislation every Minister is responsible for identifying civil emergency contingencies within or related to the Minister's area of accountability.

The Minister of Environment is responsible for developing and maintaining emergency plans covering for example:

1. the identification, assessment, and mitigation of environmental hazards and their associated risks; and
2. conducting observations and forecasts and providing timely warnings with respect to weather, ice sea-state and other physical phenomena

The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make orders or regulations respecting the development of civil emergency plans; the use of federal civil resources in response to civil emergencies; declaring a provincial emergency to be of concern to the federal government; and authorising the provision of assistance, including financial assistance, to a province when a provincial emergency in the province has been declared to be of concern to the federal government and the province has requested assistance.

Links:

• Department of Justice: Emergency Preparedness Act
  Complete text of the act