Table of Contents 
4.0 Emergency Activation
The Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act defines an emergency as “a situation or an impending situation that constitutes a danger of major proportions that could result in serious harm to persons or substantial damage to property and that is caused by the forces of nature, a disease or other health risk, an accident or an act whether intentional or otherwise.”
In Ontario, emergency response is provided in a phased approach:
- First Responders: Police, Fire and Ambulance
- Municipalities and Local Communities as “second level” of response
- Provincial ministries - when capacity of a municipality/local community/First Nations community is exceeded and the response to the emergency escalates to the province
- Assistance from the federal government when the capacity of the province is exceeded
An emergency may be declared at the municipal, regional, First Nations, provincial or national level. A declaration of a community emergency should be made at the lowest level of jurisdiction (i.e. by the Municipality or First Nations community). It is seldom necessary for a provincial or national emergency to be declared even though resources from these jurisdictions will frequently be provided in support of any emergency declared by a municipality or community.
Appendix 5 contains two charts summarizing the process for declaring and terminating a municipal emergency and a provincial emergency. The charts also identify MCSS/MCYS/OFA activities e.g., implementation of Emergency Response Plans and MAG activation in relation to both emergency response and COOP.
During a community/provincial emergency, the Ministries are required to:
- Respond to Emergency Management Ontario 24/7;
- Respond to the Corporate Response Centre, Emergency Management and Security Branch, MGS 24/7 if continuity of government services is affected by the emergency;
- Staff the MCSS desk at the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) 24/7 as required;
- Activate the Ministry Action Group and Ministry Emergency Operations Centre (MEOC) as required;
- Support municipalities/communities in ensuring availability of emergency social services when provincial assistance is required; and
- Maintain/recover ministry critical services, if they have been affected by the emergency.
4.1. Plan Activation
The Ministries have established criteria for activating the MCSS/MCYS/OFA Emergency Management Plan by the ministries’ Executive Lead for Emergency Management (ADM, BPCSD).
A Regional Director can activate the Region’s Emergency Response Plan in consultation with the Ministry Emergency Management Unit, which will notify and consult with the Executive Lead, MAG.
A Regional Director, Corporate Director, Facility Administrator/Superintendent or the ADM, Office of Francophone Affairs can activate a business unit COOP plan, if the disruption of service is local and does not require Ministry led decisions or supports. Each business unit has identified a Crisis Response Team and Program Recovery Team to manage business continuity issues at the local level.
4.2. Notification Procedures
For the Ministries of Community and Social Services, Children and Youth Services and the Office of Francophone Affairs a step-by-step notification (monitoring/advisory) process has been established and is in place to respond to both a local and provincial emergency.
The ministries’ have 24/7 notification procedures in place, including a dedicated Emergency Management pager, which is carried by EMU staff on a rotating basis. The EMU maintains an updated 24/7 telephone/blackberry listing of all ministry emergency responders and senior managers. The contact lists are updated monthly. Copies of the contact list for both ministries are provided electronically to everyone on the lists each time they are updated.
In the event of a significant local emergency (emergency response or COOP emergencies), the PMD Regional Emergency Manager will follow the notification protocols for notifying the EMU and the Regional Director. In corporate branches and YJS offices/facilities, the MCSS/MCYS/OFA COOP lead or the YJS Regional Emergency Manager for that location/region will notify the senior manager for that location and the EMU of emergencies that require the activation of the COOP plan.
See MAG Emergency Notification Flow Chart in Appendix 2.
Call-out procedures and 24/7 contact information are included in each MCSS/MCYS/OFA COOP plan and MCSS Regional Emergency Response Plans.