Disaster Relief
Up-to-Date Information
Updates on the Fort McMurray wildfire evacuation, financial assistance, and other relevant information.
Returning to Your Home
CONTACT THE RED-CROSS FOR HELP AND INFORMATION
Fort McMurray Evacuee transition home information:
Phone: 1 888 539 6918
WEBSITE: http://albertacrc.cortravco.com/
A voluntary phased re-entry for Fort McMurray residents is scheduled to begin June 1st and should be completed by June 21. A re-entry timeline and zoning map is available here:
The Alberta Health Services has additional information regarding health and safety considerations. At this time, 567 homes and 12 apartment complexes have been deemed unsafe for habitation due to an increased risk of exposure to toxins from smoke. Please contact AHS at (780) 513-7517 for more information.
Immediate Assistance
The Canadian Red Cross in Alberta has teams mobilizing to support affected people, families, and communities. Families and individuals who have been evacuated can call with inquiries or to register. The toll-free number is 1-888-350-6070. The Red Cross provides relief in the form of emergency food, clothing, shelter, personal services and other necessities that assist with recovery and resiliency.
Dealing with Your Insurance Provider
Most Residential Insurance policies have an emergency travel clause. If you contact your provider you may be able to get your hotel paid for through your insurance company.
Long-term Assistance
Individuals
- After an Emergency > Home Renovations (Government of Alberta)
This web page outlines steps to take with rebuilding and renovating. As stated here, “if you cannot afford to pay for repairs, the Disaster Recovery Program can pay your contractor directly”.
- Disasters and disaster relief (Canada Revenue Agency)
The CRA understands that disasters can cause great difficulties for taxpayers whose primary concerns during these times are their families, homes, businesses, and communities. Topics included here are:
- Financial assistance payments from your employer or to your employee
- Financial assistance payments from your government
- How to help victims of a disaster
- Destroyed books and records
- Taxpayer relief provisions
Possibilities of Future Assistance:
Please note that it is anticipated that some disaster-related funding programs will be announced in the future. As an example, following the 2013 floods, the Alberta Government announced a Disaster Recovery Program and a Small Business Rebuilding Program, as well as information about rebuilding provincial infrastructure. Announcements regarding future funding options will probably appear on Alberta’s After an emergency website.
Businesses and Municipal Governments
- Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (Public Safety Canada)
In the event of a large-scale natural disaster, the Government of Canada provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial governments through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), administered by Public Safety Canada. Through the DFAA, assistance is paid to the province or territory – not directly to affected individuals, small businesses or communities.
Examples of provincial/territorial expenses that may be eligible for cost-sharing under the DFAA
- Evacuation, transportation, emergency food, shelter, and clothing
- Emergency provision of essential community services
- Security measures including the removal of valuable assets and hazardous materials from a threatened area
- Repairs to public buildings and related equipment
- Repairs to public infrastructure such as roads and bridges
- Removal of damaged structures constituting a threat to public safety
- Restoration, replacement or repairs to an individual’s dwelling (principal residence only)
- Restoration, replacement or repairs to essential personal furnishings, appliances, and clothing
- Restoration of small businesses and farmsteads including buildings and equipment
- Costs of damage inspection, appraisal and clean up
- Assistance and Recovery Support (Alberta Emergency Management Agency)
Municipalities apply for disaster recovery programs (DRPs) on behalf of their residents. Disaster recovery programs provide financial assistance for municipalities and their citizens who incur uninsurable loss and damage as a result of a disastrous event. These programs are an effective way of assisting municipalities by ensuring that the costs of disasters are shared by all Albertans, and whenever possible, by all Canadians through cost sharing arrangements with the federal government.
- Canada Small Business Financing Program (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
The Canada Small Business Financing Program has been helping small businesses with their financing needs for over 50 years. Under the program, the Government of Canada makes it easier for small businesses to get loans from financial institutions by sharing the risk with lenders. The loan guarantee program helps secure small business loans against inadvertent non-compliance with payment terms for a range of reasons, including disasters.
- AgriRecovery (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
The focus of AgriRecovery is the extraordinary costs producers must take on to recover from disasters. Extraordinary costs are costs which producers would not incur under normal circumstances, but which are necessary to mitigate the impacts of a disaster and/or resume farming operations as quickly as possible following a disaster. Further, AgriRecovery is intended to respond in situations where producers do not have the capacity to cover the extraordinary costs, even with the assistance available from other programs.
AgriRecovery initiatives are cost-shared on a 60:40 basis between the federal government and participating provinces or territories. Initiatives are typically delivered by the participating province/territory, or its delivery agent. However, in some cases initiatives have been delivered by the federal government.
See also the AgriRecovery Guide.