When disaster strikes a community, Canadians come together to help their neighbours-even those thousands of kilometers away. Albertans saw that support after the devastating wildfires in Fort McMurray and Jasper, when people across the country contributed to Canadian Red Cross fundraising appeals to help families through the crisis and into recovery.
Across Alberta and throughout the country, Canadians know that when their community needs assistance with emergency response and recovery, there are trained emergency responders who are ready to be deployed when local resources are stretched. Through the Humanitarian Workforce Program, the federal government helps organizations like the Canadian Red Cross maintain a skilled workforce ready to bolster provincial and territorial emergency responses to major natural disasters, and other emergency events.
Today, the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, announced more than $15.6 million through the Humanitarian Workforce Program to strengthen the Canadian Red Cross's readiness to respond when disasters occur. In May 2026, the Government renewed the Humanitarian Workforce Program and committed $108 million to strengthen Canada's disaster response capacity. Today's investment is the first project announced as part of that renewal, and additional projects will follow.
The importance of the Red Cross' response capacity was demonstrated this summer in many parts of the country, including in British Columbia. As part of the response, the Canadian Red Cross helped prepare the Vernon Cadet Training Centre to be ready to receive wildfire evacuees if needed, bringing together federal resources and humanitarian expertise in support of provincial wildfire response.
The funding announced today will help the Canadian Red Cross maintain a highly trained and scalable workforce that can deploy quickly to support provinces and territories during large-scale emergencies and natural disasters. These response teams provide critical services, including operating reception and evacuation centres, registering evacuees, distributing emergency supplies, and connecting people with recovery and mental health support. This investment will also enhance coordination and partnerships with remote and Indigenous communities, helping incorporate lessons learned from recent disasters seasons.
By investing in building capacity before the next disaster strikes, the federal government is working to ensure that communities can draw on support from across the country-and that willingness to step up to help is backed by people trained and ready to respond.
