Emergency Plans

Hazards turn in to disasters when they impact people, and they overwhelm a community’s ability to respond to them. This is why much of the focus of the Emergency Program is focused on being prepared to respond, both with city resources and in conjunction with stakeholders.

Emergency Response Recovery Plan

City of Nanaimo's Emergency Response and Recovery Plan is based on these 22 hazards as identified by the Hazard Assessment.

Emergency Reception Centres

Did you know?

The City of Nanaimo has four designated Reception Centres for residents in the case of an emergency and in a situation where they can no longer stay in their home. The City also has a team of Emergency Social Services (ESS) volunteers that will work with staff to set up and manage these centres in emergency situations. Depending on the circumstances of emergency or disaster it may take some time to set up and open the Centres. If you are interested in learning about volunteering with the ESS program, please visit this page.

In a major disaster it is highly recommended that you stay in your home or location and remain there If you are able.  However, if this is not possible the Reception Centres are designed to provide basic necessities: food, water and shelter when large scale evacuation of residents occurs due to emergency situations. Circumstances for opening the centres include, but are not limited to, displacement of residents due to fire, earthquakes, hazardous material spills or other risks to public safety.

The City has various communication methods to notify the public which centres will be open. If normal communication is available, information will be disseminated via local media and official city notification sites, such as this one. If communications infrastructure is disrupted, other methods may be used to communicate with residents, such as Voyent Alert, our primary emergency notification system. Sign up here!

Reception Centres  The four designated centres are:

• Nanaimo Aquatic Centre - 741 Third Street, Nanaimo, BC
• Bowen Park - 500 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, BC
• Beban Park - 2300 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, BC
• Oliver Woods Community Centre - 6000 Oliver Road, Nanaimo, BC