Ensuring Canada’s Critical Infrastructure System is Ready and Resilient
Can you imagine what would happen if an incident such as a natural disaster compromised our transportation, food or even energy Critical Infrastructure (CI) systems? In November 2021, British Columbians didn’t have to. It became reality when an unprecedented amount of rain from an atmospheric river destroyed several highways, essentially cutting off access routes in and out of the south coast of the province.
No one escaped the impacts, which ranged from grocery store shortages to prolonged highway closures, isolating communities and interrupting the supply chain, as well as the elective, proactive rationing of gasoline and other fuels, as pipelines were assessed for damage.
What is Critical Infrastructure anyway?
Public Safety Canada defines CI as the processes, systems, facilities, technologies, networks, assets and services essential to the health, safety, security or economic well-being of Canadians and the effective functioning of government. CI can be stand-alone, or cross provincial and/or national borders.
The ten sectors of CI
CI includes vital assets and systems such as food supply, electricity grids, transportation, communications, public safety systems and more. Provincial and local authorities are aware of the owners and operators of CI in their regions and together, they work to create and test emergency plans that will ensure adequate response procedures and business continuity practices are in place, long before an incident occurs.
CI preparedness
CI owners and operators play a crucial role in response activities and participate in government planning committees and pre-incident coordination. They also follow a framework to plan and prepare for emergencies, as prescribed by legislative and regulatory requirements. This is accomplished through the development, maintenance and testing of internal emergency management programs, monitored and enforced by government authorities.
These programs are founded on the National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure, which emphasizes an all-hazards approach for strengthening the resiliency of Canada’s CI. Designed to anticipate, manage and mitigate conditions during any type of emergency, programs aim to provide structure for risk assessment and prevention activities, along with response plans and strategies. Collaborative interagency and government planning processes that include response strategy development and exercises and training, further strengthen programs and capabilities.
Response readiness equals faster recovery
With preparation in place, provincial and local authorities know who to contact to protect or respond to when infrastructure has been impacted by an incident. And they also know how to work with CI teams. Contact lists, location maps, and other critical decision-making tools which are exercised in advance, are shared during the response and recovery to incidents.
In the event of an emergency incident, CI emergency management programs address immediate hazardous situations and commence restoration and/or repairs to damaged infrastructure as soon as possible. Each emergency has unique, complicating factors that determine how a response is managed. But for CI, evaluating and prioritizing is universally based on several factors, as illustrated below.
CI representatives provide situation updates to local and provincial authorities, outlining actual and potential impacts, as well as possible public safety concerns. These updates include impacts to the CI’s ability to continue business and ensure essential services remain available.
Continuous improvement
After an incident, an after-action report detailing the effectiveness of the emergency response is developed. This report will capture lessons learned and identify areas for improvement—real world learnings of which are then applied to CI emergency programs. In the case of BC’s atmospheric river, one year later the monumental work of restoring the highway system was achieved and to a level that will enable it to better withstand the impacts of climate change and future extreme weather events.
The importance of a strong, rehearsed plan that involves the broad and comprehensive training of personnel cannot be underestimated. CI operators' ability to respond to an emergency rest on personnel having familiarity with the response structure and operational procedures. This familiarity and comfort responding in all-hazard situations enables CI to address the specific circumstances an emergency will present, regardless of incident type or damage. It’s how CI maintains and improves its capacity for preparedness and how it ensures it can continue serving communities during and after an emergency, regardless of the disruption.
The prevention of catastrophic damage in all areas of our society helps us feel safe when the world around us is submerged in uncertainty. Without CI, societies can’t function—and this is never truer than during an emergency.