Emergency Management & Business Continuity plan and budget
Emergency Management & Business Continuity is legislated to assess preparedness for and recovery from emergencies, disasters, and business disruptions. We help Calgary withstand emergencies by coordinating efforts of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (Agency), which includes The City, businesses, non-profit groups and government agencies. We educate on disaster risk, create preparedness networks, develop risk reduction strategies, and deliver emergency social services. Business continuity planning enables delivery of essential services during and after an emergency. Regional and national disaster response support is provided through Canada Task Force 2, Alberta’s disaster response team.
Our customers
- Calgarians and visitors to Calgary.
- Agency members and their partners
- all internal business units in the organization.
- Calgary businesses that are the cornerstone of a healthy and vibrant economy.
- other jurisdictions in Alberta and Canada that may require support during an emergency.
Our partners
- Over 60 organizations that collectively form the Agency.
- all City business units, government agencies, critical infrastructure operators.
- organizations within the utility, education, transportation, non-profit and private sectors.
Value to Calgarians
- helps Calgarians withstand emergencies
- educates on disaster risk
- creates preparedness networks
- develops risk reduction strategies
- delivers social services
What we deliver
- Education, training, emergency planning, communications, risk analysis, and disaster risk management to our partners and customers.
- Response and recovery priorities, set through collective decision making.
- Business continuity to promote resilience and enable consistent delivery of critical services.
Budget breakdown
Operating and capital budgets explained
The budgets you see here are expenditures net of recoveries.
The City develops two budgets to create impact aligned with Council’s Strategic Direction:
- The four-year (2023-2026) operating plans and budgets
- The five-year (2023-2027+) capital plans and budgets
The operating budget includes revenues, recoveries and spending related to ongoing operations. These include:
- Salaries, wages and benefits.
- Day to day programs, maintenance and services.
- Administration costs (e.g., insurance).
- Fuel
- Utilities
- Capital financing costs.
The City's total net operating budget is zero. This means we budget to collect the revenue needed to deliver services to Calgarians — no more, no less. We collect this revenue through property taxes and other sources.
The capital budget pays for long-lived assets. These provide the foundation for the services Calgarians rely on. They include:
- Maintenance of current infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings and playgrounds).
- Upgrades to existing community infrastructure.
- New infrastructure to provide services in areas that are underserved (e.g., Green Line).
- New infrastructure for growing areas of the city.
Learn more about our 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets.
See how the budget has been adjusted since November 2022
Measuring performance
We are measuring our performance in five areas. Each value is the goal we expect to reach by 2026.
What we've heard
Calgarians identified prevention, risk reduction, and connectivity as key service values, followed by resiliency and legislative compliance in the 2022 Service Value Dimensions survey. Calgarians and Agency members have rated Emergency Management & Business Continuity high in importance and satisfaction:
- 98 per cent of Calgarians indicated that the service is very or somewhat important and 90 per cent are satisfied with service delivery (2021 Spring Pulse Survey).
- Disaster planning and response was identified as a primary strength among City services in the 2021 Fall Citizen Satisfaction survey.
- The 2021 Agency Member survey indicated that 98 per cent of Agency members are satisfied with the Agency’s leadership in emergency management.
What we're watching
- In recent years, Calgary experienced the convergence of multiple hazardous events: severe weather, poor air quality, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Increased municipal disaster management responsibilities and the impact of climate change on disaster frequency and severity will require investment in mitigation to reduce financial impacts on local authorities.
- Understanding that historical assessment of risk does not fully account for emerging events caused by climate extremes or interconnected global commerce, we continuously evolve our approach to emergency management.
- We monitor Calgary’s population and the increased diversification of our demographics to inform strategic shifts in how to engage and support Calgarians.
- Technology presents a risk, as an increasing number of people, devices, and critical services are interconnected to virtual networks with dependencies on one another.
- Technological innovation will influence how we respond to emergencies and communicate critical information.
Our initiatives
What we plan to do
We will strengthen resilience and response to hazards and threats by collaborating with Agency members and communities to reduce disaster risk. Implementing strategies that proactively manage risk will advance the practice of emergency management in Canada.
How we're going to get there
- Increase awareness and understanding of local hazards within the Agency, City services, and our communities by assessing, analyzing and communicating disaster risk.
- Increase the capacity of the community to prepare for emergencies by providing emergency preparedness awareness, education and training.
- Strengthen disaster risk governance and risk reduction practices within municipal plans, policies, and strategies by collaborating with Agency members, partners, and customers to reduce disaster risk through prevention and mitigation.
- Increase the capacity of Canada Task Force 2 Disaster Response Team to support local and regional disaster response and recovery by delivering funding, training, exercises, and equipment to ensure alignment with international standards and maintain a continual state of readiness.
- Increase the capacity of the Agency to support local and regional disaster response and recovery by delivering emergency exercises, plans, resources, and training to maintain a continual state of readiness.