EMERGENCY? WHAT YOU DO, WHAT WE DO

This web document provides brief information on how the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has organized itself to respond to emergencies and provides links to emergency information.

MOE deals with emergencies through:

• An Emergency Management Program
• An Emergency Response Plan
• A Continuity of Operations Plan

Overview of MOE’s Role in Emergency Management

MOE is required by law to have an Emergency Management Program and an Emergency Response Plan for responding to:

• Spills of pollutants to the natural environment, including fixed site and transportation spills;
• Drinking water emergencies.

Legislative Requirement

Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, Regulation 380/04 and corresponding Order in Council require MOE to have an Emergency Management Program, an Emergency Response Plan and a Continuity of Operations Plan.

Through its Emergency Management Program and the Response Plan, MOE responds to provincial emergencies and also to local or regional spills and drinking water emergencies.

• Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act
• Regulation 380/04
• Order In Council
• The Ministry's Emergency Response Plan

Personal Planning for an Emergency

In Ontario, residents are expected to be prepared to take care of themselves and their families for up to three days during an emergency or a disaster. For information on preparing an Emergency Survival Kit for yourself and your family and for other information on planning for an emergency, please go to our Personal Planning page.

MOE’s Emergency Response Plan

• Activation: the Deputy Minister or a designated Assistant Deputy Minister can activate the ministry’s response to an emergency
• Co-ordination: during an emergency, MOE may establish a Ministry Action Group of senior staff to co-ordinate managing an emergency through an Emergency Operations Centre or an alternative way of organizing emergency-response activities.

Role of the Ministry Action Group

• Co-ordinate the activities of MOE staff in the field who are responding to an emergency
• Ensure MOE field staff have the resources needed to respond effectively
• Co-ordinate MOE’s activities with other agencies that may be responding to an emergency

MOE Role in a Declared Provincial Emergency

MOE’s Ministry Action Group:

• Would take a lead role for spills and drinking water emergencies and support all other provincial emergency activities
• Would assign staff to a Provincial Emergency Operations Centre, if one is established
• Would also ensure that the ministry provided timely information on an emergency to the public

Emergency Response and MOE’s Spills Action Centre

The Emergency Response Plan builds on MOE’s existing response framework for responding to spills and drinking water incidents.

MOE’s emergency response is built around the Spills Action Centre (SAC) that provides a province-wide, 24/7 service for reporting and responding to emergencies.

SAC triggers a response by MOE emergency staff anywhere across the province to a reported spill or other emergency, if necessary.

SAC can be reached from anywhere in Ontario at any time by calling:

• 1-800-268-6060, or
• 416-325-3000, in the Toronto area, or
• by visiting the Spills Action Centre page.

Continuity of Operations

The Continuity of Operations Plan or COOP sets out how the Ministry will:

• Continue to operate when one or more of its offices are disrupted by an emergency, such as a power failure
• Continue to respond to emergencies when coping with an emergency that disrupts its own operations.

COOP Activation

• The Deputy Ministry or an Assistant Deputy Minister would activate the Ministry’s response.
• This may include establishing a Ministry Action Group to manage an emergency that was disrupting Ministry operations.

Other Emergency Information Sites

• Emergency Management Ontario and information on Emergency Management in Ontario
• Government of Canada’s Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Page

For Further Information on MOE’s Emergency Management Program

For further information on the Ministry of the Environment’s emergency management program, please contact the Emergency Management Program Coordinator at 416-325-1995.