Your organization helps people affected by emergencies. That means your team needs to have the right knowledge and tools at all times. Prepare yourself with this program to provide the best emergency support services.
ESS is a program for local authorities and Indigenous governing bodies. It helps people displaced by disasters. If you are supporting ESS, these courses are for you.
Interested in volunteering? Reach out to your local authority, Indigenous governing bodies, or the .
Looking for training on BC's Evacuation Registration & Assistance (ERA) tool? See the ERA Training Information tab below.
The courses are for ESS responders, supervisors, and directors in First Nations and Local Authorities. It is also for others who directly aid a community's emergency program.
Participants may be volunteers or staff.
Each course focuses on different aspects of providing Emergency Support Services and supporting an ESS community program. Training is offered to community ESS personnel in three general categories:
Review the individual courses below for more information.
The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR) covers ESS course fees for public safety lifeline volunteers and community personnel actively involved with their local ESS program.
Organizations from outside of British Columbia interested in ESS training can participate in private training opportunities. Contact emdcustomized@jibc.ca for more information on private contract training opportunities.
Registrations and applications for ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿â€™s ESS training courses are processed in different ways depending on the type of course:
Online Courses – To register, search the course on our website (or listed below), select a suitable date from the course page, and follow the directions to self-register online.
³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ Instructor-Led Courses – For more information, visit .
Community-Led Learning – To learn more about how to access these materials, see the Resources for Community-Led Learning tab below.
ESS Directors Course (EMRG-1681) – To apply for the ESS Directors course, participants must obtain approval from their communities ESS Director (or EPC) and then complete an online application. More information is available in the ESS Directors Course Information tab below.
Note: Some courses have pre-requisites which are shown with the course description on the ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ website. If your ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ transcript does not show the applicable pre-requisite, the online system will prevent you from registering.
More Information – If you require more information about registration or pre-requisites, please contact ess@jibc.ca.
To support ESS Responders and communities, EMCR has made available two levels of Evacuation Registration and Assistance (ERA) Tool training. These courses are:
EMRG-1635 Introduction to Evacuee Registration and Supports - This course is intended for ESS responders new to ERA, who will not be using management functions.
EMRG-1622 ERA for Management - This course is intended for ESS, manager/director and local emergency program administrators of ERA. This course includes all components of EMRG-1635; students do not need to register for both courses.
Required Pre-Requisites - EMRG-1635 has no pre-requisites. However, we recommend that students take EMRG-1600 and EMRG-1610 before taking EMRG-1635 to build a base of knowledge.
EMRG-1622 has a pre-requisite of EMRG-1615 Registration and Referrals (and EMRG-1615 has pre-requisites of EMRG-1600 and EMRG-1610). You will only be able to register online if EMRG-1615 is showing on your ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ transcript.
Retired ERA Courses - EMRG-1620 Evacuee Registration & Assistance Tool for Responders is retired and will no longer be offered by ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿. EMRG-1635 is an equivalent course to EMRG-1620.
The EMRG-1681 Emergency Support Services Director course is offered to members of the ESS community who may be assuming senior or leadership positions with their local ESS program. Approval from your community's ESS Director or Emergency Program Coordinator is required to apply.
The course is currently available online through an instructor guided group-based learning experience. The 21-hour course is scheduled over three weeks with self-direct work, group discussions/activities, and live virtual classroom sessions on Saturday mornings. In person versions of this course are currently paused.
To Apply:
1. Confirm you have completed the required pre-requisites:
2. Obtain permission from your ESS Director or Emergency Program Coordinator.
3. Go to the , and if the dates of the next available offering are suitable, submit your application.
Your application will be reviewed about 4 weeks before the next offering and if accepted you will be notified and registered in the course.
If you have any questions about the course or your application, please contact ess@jibc.ca.
³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ Instructor-Led ESS Training can be delivered in community and government funded (at no cost to the community), or privately funded by the community. For government funded training, visit .
For more information about privately funded training contracts (at cost to the community) reach out to emdcustomized@jibc.ca.
ESS Community-Led Learning offers course materials designed to support both Independent Study and Facilitated Sessions. These resources are available for the following courses:
Independent Study
ESS responders can work through course content individually using the Participant Manual. This flexible option allows responders to learn at their own pace.
Facilitated Sessions
Communities can select facilitators to lead training sessions, guiding participants through the course content. Facilitators have access to:
Course materials for ESS Community-Led Learning are available for download below. Additionally, local authorities and Indigenous governing bodies responsible for providing ESS can request printed Participant Guides and Course Completion Forms directly from ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿.
To request these resources, .
ESS responders who successfully complete these courses can have their achievements recorded on their ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ transcript. To ensure completion is documented, ESS Directors, Emergency Program Coordinators, or designates must submit completed Student Information Forms (included in the Participant Guides) and ESS Course Completion Forms to ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿. These materials are necessary to process transcript updates.
EMRG-1600 Introduction to Emergency Support Services
EMRG-1607 Level One ESS
EMRG-1610 Introduction to Reception Centres
EMRG-1612 Introduction to Group Lodging
| EMRG-1615 Registration and Referrals | EMRG-1645 Convergent Volunteer Management |
| EMRG-1624 Resource Acquisition |
| EMRG-1622 ERA for Management | EMRG-1660 Public Safety Lifeline Leadership |
| EMRG-1674 Managing Volunteer Programs | EMRG-1681 Emergency Support Services Director |