Emergency Support Services
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Emergency Support Services: Short-term supports
Emergency Support Services (ESS) is a core provincial program designed to support people after a disaster. ESS provides short term financial support for basic needs like food and lodging until evacuees can return home or are no longer in need.
ESS was accessed by tens of thousands of British Columbians because of the extreme weather events that occurred in 2021. Thousands of evacuees needed financial supports for weeks, some for months, while they were displaced. Volunteers worked alongside local governments, First Nations and the province to help deliver these supports the best they could.
“People should never feel as though they are a burden during an ordeal. . . This has been the most difficult and stressful time of my life by far. . . To be made to feel as though I was asking too much . . . was wrong and then to top it all off we were made to feel as though we were alone in the process.”
– Evacuee
What we found:
Key recommendations
Make local reception centres accessible to all; integrate cultural safety into the ESS program; provide flexible assistance that allows people to choose what they need
Strengthen support for local ESS teams including timely and effective surge support for large scale ESS responses; integrated professional mental health care; reliable communication hub for evacuees
Develop a comprehensive people-centred strategy to address long-term displacement due to extreme weather
