Mandate, Mission, and Goals
The mandate, mission, and goals of the IAEM Canada Professional Development Committee are to:
- Identify and promote professional development opportunities.
- Through collaboration with external partners, clarify and document EM core competencies within a Canadian Framework.
- Raise awareness of EM core competencies as they align with the CEM/AEM certifications and the Canadian industry.
- Create mentorship and shared industry information exchange opportunities accessible to and respond to members' needs.
- Highlight experts in different areas of emergency management in Canada.
- Maintain a list of EM educational opportunities in Canada.
Committee Leadership
Director, Professional Development Committee
John MacIsaac, BTech (Emergency Management), ACP
Manager, Emergency Preparedness
Nova Scotia Health
Nova Scotia
CanadaProfessionalDevelopment@iaem.com
Professional Development Committee Co-Chair
Carolyn Dumbeck, CEM
Committee Members
Michael Boyle
Lorri Laface, CEM
Pierre Legault
Rick McSpadden
Mariyam Syed
Greg Thomson
Supporting Documents
Professional Development Projects
Emergency Management Education in Canada
The Professional Development – Canadian Secondary Institutes Document is a compilation of resources developed by the IAEM-Canada Professional Development Committee in an attempt to consolidate and capture all (emergency management) further education that educational institutes within Canada offer. It includes information and links to certificate-level courses, diploma-level courses, undergraduate degree programs, and postgraduate degree programs.
Interested in getting your AEM/CEM, check out the IAEM Certification Resource Center
Core Competency Working Group
Following a CRHNet symposium in 2005, several interested partners came together to discuss the development of a competency profile to inform the further training and professionalization of Disaster and Emergency Management (D&EM) as a field of practice. In 2021 a new group of members from a variety of agencies and geographical locations came together to form a working group co-chaired by the members from both the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network (CRHNet) and the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Canada.
Our mandate is to help advance the professionalization of Disaster & Emergency Management in Canada through respectful and informed recommendations of competencies to guide training/education, the development of a Code of Ethics, and appropriate position descriptions and National Occupational Codes.
More information can be found here.
Virtual Emergency Operations Centres
In response to a perceived gap in the analysis, select members of the Professional Development Committee collaborated and published a paper documenting the experiences of Canadian emergency management professionals during the initial phases of the pandemic. As a supplementary project and based on best practices submitted by emergency management professionals across Canada, committee members completed a checklist to aid organizations in determining their readiness to support ‘virtual’ emergency operations.
- The published peer-reviewed journal article can be found here: More than Technology: Experiences of Virtual Emergency Operations Centers (VEOCs) during the COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Canada
- The VEOC Readiness Checklist was designed to support programs in assessing their VEOC readiness.
News
- Profession and Purpose – A Panel Discussion on the Professionalization of Emergency Management Featured on EPIC Podcast: Listen to the session through the EPIC Podcast website.
- VEOC Findings Featured on EPIC Podcast: (Jun. 1, 2023) EPIC podcast featured the Professional Development Committee’s research findings on Virtual EOCs. During the session, they also introduced the VEOC Readiness Assessment Checklist. Listen to the session through the EPIC Podcast website.
- Professional Development Committee Member Provides Keynote for European Commission of Foot and Mouth Disease: (Nov. 1, 2022) One of the VEOC authors was a Keynote speaker and panelist in Marseille, France, for the European Commission of Foot and Mouth Disease in October 2022, sharing our research findings on VEOCs. The session is now on YouTube.
- Professional Development Members Contribute to Journal of Emergency Management: (Sep. 1, 2021) Members of the Professional Development Committee completed a student and subsequent journal article in the Journal of Emergency Management entitled “More than Technology: Experiences of Virtual Emergency Operations Centres (VEOCs) during the COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Canada.” Contact the Professional Development Committee to learn more.
Join the Committee
We meet monthly via a virtual platform and seek new committee members to work with us. Our team is small but mighty and has worked tirelessly through everything the past few years have thrown at us! Current committee members come from Provincial-level healthcare, higher education, the Provincial government, and more. On average, committee members will spend approximately five hours a month on related work and meetings, depending on active projects they may be supporting.
If you are looking for a great way to grow your network, influence Canadian Emergency Management at this pivotal time in our history, be inspired by amazing existing committee members, or expand your skill set, we would love to have you join our committee.
This is an opportunity to work towards one of your professional development requirements as you seek to obtain/renew your CEM certification. Please contact the Professional Development Committee at CanadaProfessionalDevelopment@iaem.com to be referred to the committee chair.