The federal government has rolled out the first $15 million of its $108 million commitment to Canada’s disaster response readiness. The Canadian Red Cross is funded by Ottawa through the Humanitarian Workforce Program. The $108 million commitment was first made in May of this year. On Friday, Eleanor Olszewski, the minister of emergency management and minister responsible for prairies economic development, announced the first portion of that funding – $15.6 million – to help the organization train and equip workers in teams that are deployed across Canada during disasters. “As an Albertan, I know how deeply people were affected by the wildfires in Fort McMurray and in Jasper. Even for those of us outside evacuation zones, these are places that we knew, and that we care about deeply,” she told reporters. “I think those people know and understand now really what it means to have Canadians stand beside them. People across the country contributed to Red Cross appeals, and they gave what they could to help families that they had never met, right here in our province.” Melanie Soler, the vice president of Red Cross emergency management, said the money recognizes the “more frequent, more complex, and more demanding” nature of emergencies across Canada. She says support from the federal government has funded more than 16,000 workforce deployments since 2020. In 2025-2026 alone, she added, the Canadian Red Cross supported nearly 100,000 people after emergencies like wildfires in Ontario and British Columbia. “This funding will also support innovation and specialized expertise to better meet the needs of Canadians, particularly in northern, rural and remote communities.” The money announced this week will be distributed over the course of 2026 and 2027. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Darcy Seaton
