The Honourable Bill Blair, president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and the minister of emergency preparedness, released the country’s first National Risk Profile May 11, providing a national picture of disaster risks facing the country, along with an assessment of existing response measures, resources and emergency management gaps.

Earthquakes, wildland fire and floods are focused on, along with the cascading impact pandemics can have on these hazards. Heat events, hurricanes and space weather are also all discussed in the 178-page document. “The National Risk Profile is a foundational piece of emergency preparedness work,” they write. Methodologies used measure the impact and likelihood of hazards and provide an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the Canadian emergency management system. They say in future years, the profile will expand to include more natural hazards.

The report cites several industry reports on the subject, including those published by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Insurance Institute of Canada. 

“Canada’s first strategic, national-level risk assessment,” they say, “is based on input and evidence from whole-of-society stakeholders across Canada and provides a foundation for understanding disaster risk from the three costliest hazards facing Canadians: earthquakes, wildland fire and floods. It aims to broaden public awareness of disaster risk.”