Mr. Speaker, provincial and territorial governments have the primary responsibility for managing emergencies within their respective jurisdictions. Any instructions given to Canadians within 100 kilometres of a nuclear power plant would be based on the relevant province’s emergency plans and the particular situation. Provincial responsibilities include public alerting and providing instructions to homeowners, apartment dwellers, schools, businesses, hospitals, seniors’ residences and long-term care facilities on protective action, which may include evacuation, sheltering and/or the use of potassium iodide, KI, for iodine thyroid blocking, or ITB, and ingestion controls. While military installations and indigenous lands fall within federal jurisdiction, individuals would be instructed to follow the instructions provided by provincial health authorities in an emergency.
Provinces with nuclear power plants have provincial nuclear emergency plans, which detail the preparedness and response actions of the province in the event of a nuclear emergency. New Brunswick’s provincial health nuclear emergency plan for the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station can be consulted at https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/h-s/pdf/en/Publications/ProvincialHealthNuclearEmergencyPlan.pdf, and its Point Lepreau nuclear off-site emergency plan is found at https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/ps-sp/pdf/emo/Nuclear/PointLepreau-NOEM.pdf, while the provincial nuclear emergency response plan, PNERP, for the nuclear power plants in Ontario is found at https://www.ontario.ca/document/provincial-nuclear-emergency-response-plan-pnerp-master-plan.
At the federal level, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, CNSC, is responsible, among other things, for maintaining regulatory oversight of nuclear power plants. Regulatory requirements placed on the licensee include robust emergency plans for the plant, a public education program for the local population about the plant and what to do in an emergency, and a requirement for the pre-distribution of KI for the population around a nuclear power plant.
Public Safety Canada maintains the federal emergency response plan, FERP, and is responsible for overall federal coordination on behalf of the Government of Canada in the event of a nuclear emergency requiring a coordinated Government of Canada response. The plan is found at https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/mrgnc-rspns-pln/index-en.aspx
Health Canada leads the federal nuclear emergency plan, FNEP, which is an annex to the FERP and coordinates scientific and technical support from 18 federal departments for a whole-of-government response to a nuclear emergency. It can be consulted at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/health-risks-safety/federal-nuclear-emergency-master-plan-part-1.html
In addition to the FNEP, Health Canada has published guidance documents to assist provincial authorities in developing protection strategies for nuclear emergencies, to help inform the instructions referenced above. Guidance documents include “Generic Criteria and Operational Intervention Levels for Nuclear Emergency Planning and Response”, found online at https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.855963/publication.html, and “Guidance on Planning for Recovery Following a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency”, at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/health-risks-safety/planning-recovery-nuclear-emergency.html.
Health Canada is committed to protecting the health and safety of Canadians by strengthening nuclear emergency preparedness in Canada and providing guidance, support and recommendations based on the scientific and technical resources of the Government of Canada.
Health Canada works closely with partners across all jurisdictions to test nuclear emergency plans through regular exercises and other reviews as part of an ongoing effort to ensure readiness for a nuclear emergency in Canada or abroad.
Recent exercises in Ontario, with Exercise Unified Command, and New Brunswick, with Synergy Challenge, have shown that all jurisdictions and the nuclear operators are prepared to respond to a nuclear emergency in Canada. More details on Synergy Challenge can be found at https://www.nbpower.com/en/safety/nuclear-safety/synergy-challenge-2021
In 2019, Canada hosted an international peer review of its nuclear emergency preparedness. The review report concluded that Canada had a well-developed and mature nuclear emergency preparedness and response system in place across all levels of government. The report is available at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-risks-safety/radiation/radiological-nuclear-emergencies/how-canada-prepares/international-atomic-energy-agency-emergency-preparedness-review-mission-canada-june-2019.html