B.C. Provides Indigenous Nations Larger Role In Emergency Management

On November 8, 2023, substantial changes to B.C.'s emergency preparedness legislation took effect. Bill 31-2023, the Emergency and Disaster Management Act, (EDMA) replaced the Emergency Program Act, RSBC 1996, c 111 (the EPA), which has governed B.C.'s emergency response regime for the last three decades. EDMA was co-designed with Indigenous Nations in accordance with the Province's action plan developed under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, SBC 2019, c 44 (DRIPA).

The modernization aims to incorporate key aspects of emergency management that are absent in the current regime, including acknowledging the connection between increasing emergencies and climate change, and addressing all four phases of emergency management set out in the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which British Columbia adopted in 2018. These additions are imperative given the increasing frequency of climate-related disasters that impact all