Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. E. 9).

This Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act replaces the Emergency Plans Act. Whereas the previous Act gave municipalities the authority to create emergency plans on an elective basis, the new Act requires each municipality to develop, implement, and maintain an emergency management program. For the purpose of the present Act “emergency” means 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.
Section 2 on Municipal emergency management programs establishes that: 1) every municipality shall develop and implement an emergency management program and the council of the municipality shall by by-law adopt the emergency management program; 2) The emergency management program shall consist of: a) an emergency plan as required by section 3; b) training programs and exercises for employees of the municipality and other persons with respect to the provision of necessary services and the procedures to be followed in emergency response and recovery activities; c) public education on risks to public safety and on public preparedness for emergencies; and d) any other element required by the standards for emergency management programs. The text consists of 15 sections.