Step 1
Know the risks
The consequences of an emergency are often similar from region to region — no power, no water, no way to travel — but the hazards that trigger them are local. Knowing what's actually likely where you live helps you prepare for the right things instead of everything at once.
For a hazard profile built around your own municipality, use the tools the guide points to: GetPrepared.ca for region-specific risks, and the Canadian Disaster Database to see how past natural, technological, and conflict-related disasters have actually affected Canadians.
Step 2
Make a plan
Every household needs a plan — mainly because your household may not be together when something happens. Filling this out takes about 20 minutes. Keep a copy with your kit, and keep an electronic copy somewhere you can reach it from your phone.
Household plan — fill in and print
Choose an out-of-town contact who lives far enough away to be unlikely to be hit by the same event — after an emergency it's often easier to make one long-distance call than several local ones. If you're new to Canada or recently moved, friends, cultural associations, or community organizations can stand in for family here.
Neighbourhood safety
Work with neighbours to identify anyone nearby who'd need extra help in an emergency — older adults living alone, people with mobility limits, families with infants. Assigning "block buddies" in advance means someone is looking out for them.
Special health needs
Build a personal support network — friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbours who understand your needs. Record accommodation needs, allergies, medical conditions, medication, recent vaccinations, and surgeries, and keep a copy in your kit. Ask your doctor about a two-week backup supply of medication, since pharmacies can be closed for a while after an emergency.
Preparing children
Kids feel the stress too, and sometimes it just shows as fear. Talk through hazards common to your area in age-appropriate terms, build the plan together, and acknowledge their feelings rather than brushing them off. Keeping mealtimes and bedtime routines familiar helps more than most people expect — watch for clinginess, sleep changes, or eating changes as normal reactions, and loop in a professional if they persist.
Pets & service animals
Pets aren't allowed in most public shelters, so plan ahead: identify pet-friendly hotels, boarding kennels, or a family member who can take them, and keep a pet file with photos, licences, and vaccination records. Build a small kit — carrier, leash and collar with ID tag, food and water for 72 hours, bowls, litter or waste bags, and any medication. If you must evacuate without them, leave food, water, and a sign in the window telling responders animals are inside.
Safe home basics
Keep a fire extinguisher on every level, including the kitchen, and make sure every capable adult and older child knows where it is and how to use it. Post large, easy-to-read shut-off instructions for water, gas, and electricity near the panel or valve, and only shut off gas when authorities tell you to — a professional has to turn it back on.
Staying connected
Save safe meeting locations in your phone's mapping app, keep contacts up to date, and reduce screen brightness to conserve battery. Text and non-voice channels use less bandwidth than calls and often work when voice service is congested — keep messages brief. Sign up for direct deposit so you can reach your funds without a branch, and see GetCyberSafe.ca for more on staying safe online during a disruption.
Step 3
Get an emergency kit
You likely own most of what a kit needs already — the job is gathering it somewhere organized, portable, and easy to find in the dark. A backpack, duffel, or wheeled case near the front door works well. Where you have several people in the household, split the load across individual grab-and-go bags so no one bag is too heavy to carry.
Basic kit — everyone needs this
Recommended additions
Vehicle kit
Keep a small, separate kit in the car — being stranded in winter is its own emergency.
Home safety plan — fill in and print
Pre-packaged 72-hour kits are also sold by the Canadian Red Cross and several commercial suppliers, if you'd rather buy a starting kit and personalize it than build one from scratch. And check with your employer, too — ask about workplace evacuation plans, fire alarms, exit routes, and whether there's basic food and water kept on site.
Reference
Provincial & territorial emergency offices
Every province and territory runs its own emergency management office. British Columbia's is highlighted first since that's home base for tedlee.ca — the rest are listed alphabetically.
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Yukon
Reference