Whereas the Emergency Social Services ESS program provides critical support during emergencies and disasters, enabling communities to deliver essential services including reception centers, food, shelter, and basic needs to impacted individuals; And whereas many local governments have facilities or infrastructure in need of upgrades or renovations to improve their capacity for delivering ESS services in emergencies and disasters including the creation of small-scale reception centers, secure storage for equipment, and training spaces for volunteers to enhance preparedness: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to amend existing Emergency Social Services Grant programs to include capital or renovation costs as eligible expenses, supporting the improvement of facilities used for the delivery of Emergency Social Services in communities across British Columbia.
Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness The Province recognizes the essential role that Emergency Support Services and Emergency Operations Centres play in keeping communities safe, and understands that the costs local governments incur in maintaining facilities and infrastructure when supporting during emergency responses, evacuations and in providing ESS services can be challenging. The current funding stream Community Emergency Preparedness Fund is limited and must remain focused on core funding priorities. At this time, capital or renovation expenses such as developing small-scale reception centres, secure equipment storage or dedicated volunteer training spaces are not eligible under this program. The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness EMCR can reimburse eligible incremental expenses related to establishing or running reception centers as outlined in the EMCR guide to Financial Assistance for Emergency Response and Recovery Costs. We also encourage communities to continue to seek other funding opportunities through programs such as the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program, the Growing Communities Fund and the Strategic Priorities Fund.