Business Resumption

A cross-border plan

Canada is not immune to threats posed by terrorism or natural disasters or to the effect of increased border alert levels. Both the Canadian and U.S. governments have established emergency plans to respond to potential threats to the health and safety of citizens.

On January 12, 2007, the Government of Canada announced its investment of $24M for business resumption planning to harmonize and strengthen Canada–U.S. plans and to help ensure the continuity of border operations in the event of an emergency.

Canada and the United States work in partnership with all levels of government, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in both countries to ensure the flow of trade and travel during an emergency.

Objectives

There are two primary objectives when developing business resumption procedures:

• The safety and security of the public; and
• The continued flow of legitimate travellers and trade.

Under the Canada–United States business resumption planning partnership, both countries are working together to:

• Put in place specific plans and procedures to better respond to unexpected emergencies or increases in threat levels;
• Consult and share best practices with key stakeholders and partners; and
• Continually evaluate the effectiveness of established and coordinated response procedures.

Activities

Activities with the United States include joint planning on incident response and recovery and joint training exercises. These continue to take place to test, evaluate and adapt emergency response plans to ensure Canada's readiness in the event of an emergency.