States of emergency in Canada

A state of emergency occurs when any level of government assumes authority it does not generally possess to respond to a crisis. This is done by invoking said authority under specific legislation, and permits the government to expend funds, mobilize forces, or suspend civil liberties.

Declarations Federal The Canadian government has declared a state of emergency four times, three in the 20th century and under the authority of the War Measures Act and one under the Emergencies Act. Under the War Measures, the three declared were: Ukrainian Canadian internment, 1914-1920 Internment of Japanese Canadians and Internment of Italian Canadians, 1940-1949 October Crisis, 1970 In 1988, Parliament replaced the War Measures Act with the Emergencies Act, which extended the powers beyond war applications. The sole application has been:

Canada convoy protest, 2022

Provincial and territorial Historically, states of emergency have been declared by provinces for internal issues. Save for the 2004 White Juan Blizzard, until 2020 there had never been a situation where multiple provinces made a province wide declaration. This changed during the COVID-19 pandemic where every province and territory made the declaration, opposing similar measures from the federal government. Every province has the ability to assume emergency powers under either a specific emergency act or under a public health act. In some provinces, like British Columbia, both exist and can grant specific authorities. British Columbia's Civil Defence Act was enacted in 1951 and renamed the Emergency Program Act in 1973. +List of emergency declarations in the provinces and territories 1867-2019YearEventProvince/TerritoryUnder the Authority of1948River floodBritish Columbia Army Act (UK)1966Ferry StrikePrince Edward IslandEmergency Measures Act1989Forest FiresManitoba1999Snow StormQuebec2003SARS outbreakOntarioEmergency Management ActWildfiresBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program ActNortheast blackoutOntarioEmergency Management ActVan Rijn, Nicholaas (August 15, 2003). "BLACKOUT: Eves declares state of emergency and warns of rolling power outages for 'weeks to come'". Toronto Star (Special ed.). Toronto.2004White Juan blizzardNova ScotiaEmergency Measures ActPrince Edward IslandEmergency Measures Act2011FloodsManitobaEmergency Measures Act2013FloodsAlbertaEmergency Management Act2014Assiniboine River floodManitobaEmergency Measures Act 2016Fort McMurray wildfire AlbertaEmergency Management ActOpioid epidemicBritish ColumbiaPublic Health Act2017WildfiresBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program Act2018WildfiresBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program Act2019Snow storm ManitobaEmergency Measures Act +List of emergency declarations in the provinces and territories 2020-YearEventProvince/TerritoryUnder the Authority of2020COVID-19 pandemic AlbertaPublic Health ActBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program Act and Public Health ActManitobaEmergency Measures ActNew BrunswickEmergency Measures ActNewfoundland and LabradorPublic Health Protection and Promotion ActNova ScotiaHealth Protection ActOntarioEmergency Management and Civil Protection ActPrince Edward IslandPublic Health ActQuebecPublic Health ActSaskatchewanEmergency Planning ActNorthwest TerritoriesPublic Health ActNunavutPublic Health ActYukonCivil Emergency Measures Act2021WildfiresBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program ActCOVID-19 pandemicOntarioEmergency Management and Civil Protection ActNova ScotiaHealth Protection ActNew BrunswickEmergency Measures ActAlbertaPublic Health ActPacific Northwest floodsBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program Act2022 Freedom Convoy protestOntarioEmergency Management and Civil Protection Act2023WildfiresBritish ColumbiaEmergency Program ActAlbertaEmergency Management ActNorthwest TerritoriesEmergency Management ActFloodsNova ScotiaEmergency Management Act2025Wildfires Manitoba Emergency Measures ActSaskatchewanEmergency Planning Act

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