Your organization helps people affected by emergencies. That means your team needs to have the right knowledge and tools at all times. Prepare yourself with this program to provide the best emergency support services.
ESS is a program for local authorities and Indigenous governments. It helps people displaced by disasters. If you are supporting ESS, these courses are for you.
Interested in volunteering? Reach out to your local authority, Indigenous government, or the provincial ESS program.
Looking for training on BC's Evacuation Registration & Assistance (ERA) tool? See ERA Training Information tab below.
The courses are for ESS responders, supervisors, and directors in First Nations and Local Authorities. It is also for others who directly aid a community's emergency program.
Participants may be volunteers or staff.
Each ESS course focuses on different aspects of providing Emergency Support Services and supporting an ESS community program. Training is offered to community ESS personnel in three general categories:
Introductory Training: All ESS responders need this basic training. It helps them support their ESS team and community.
Specialized Training: This training is specific to experienced ESS team members. It helps them further develop their skills and capacity to support their community.
Review the individual courses below for more information.
Emergency Management BC covers ESS course fees for public safety lifeline volunteers and community personnel actively involved with their local ESS program.
Organizations from outside of British Columbia interested in ESS training can participate in private training opportunities. Contact emergency@jibc.ca for more information on private contract training opportunities.
Registrations and applications for JIBC’s ESS training courses are processed in different ways depending on the course:
ESS Online Courses – To register, search the course on our website (or listed below), select a suitable date from the course page, and follow the directions to self-register online.
ESS Correspondence Courses – To access correspondence course booklets for Introduction to ESS (EMRG-1600) or ESS Level 1 (EMRG-1607) contact your ESS program. ESS Directors or local community Emergency Program Coordinators (EPCs) can contact ess@jibc.ca to order ESS correspondence booklets free of charge for their communities.
ESS Community-based Courses – For more information, visit EMCR ESS Training.
ESS Directors Course (EMRG-1681) – To apply for the ESS Directors course, participants must obtain approval from their communities ESS Director (or EPC) and then complete an online application. More information is available in the ESS Directors Course Information tab below.
Note: Some courses have pre-requisites which are shown with the course description on the JIBC website. If your JIBC student record does not show the applicable pre-requisite, the online system will prevent you from registering.
More Information – If you require more information about registration or pre-requisites, please contact ess@jibc.ca.
To support ESS Responders and communities, EMCR has made available two levels of Evacuation Registration and Assistance (ERA) Tool training. These courses are:
EMRG-1635 Introduction to Evacuee Registration and Supports - This course is intended for ESS responders new to ERA, who will not be using management functions.
EMRG-1622 ERA for Management - This course is intended for ESS, manager/director and local emergency program administrators of ERA. This course includes all components of EMRG-1635; students do not need to register for both courses.
Required Pre-Requisites - EMRG-1635 has no pre-requisites. However, we recommend that students take EMRG-1600 and EMRG-1610 before taking EMRG-1635 to build a base of knowledge.
EMRG-1622 has a pre-requisite of EMRG-1615 Registration and Referrals (and EMRG-1615 has pre-requisites of EMRG-1600 and EMRG-1610). You will only be able to register online if EMRG-1615 is showing on your JIBC training record.
Retired ERA Courses - EMRG-1620 Evacuee Registration & Assistance Tool for Responders is retired and will no longer be offered by JIBC. EMRG-1635 is an equivalent course to EMRG-1620.
The EMRG-1681 Emergency Support Services Director course is offered to members of the ESS community who may be assuming senior or leadership positions with their local ESS program. Approval from your community's ESS Director or Emergency Program Coordinator is required to apply.
The course is currently available online through an instructor guided group-based learning experience. The 21-hour course is scheduled over three weeks with self-direct work, group discussions/activities, and live virtual classroom sessions on Saturday mornings. In person versions of this course are currently paused.
To Apply:
1. Confirm you have completed the required pre-requisites:
2. Obtain permission from your ESS Director or Emergency Program Coordinator.
3. Go to the online application, and if the dates of the next available offering are suitable, submit your application.
Your application will be reviewed about 4 weeks before the next offering and if accepted you will be notified and registered in the course.
If you have any questions about the course or your application, please contact ess@jibc.ca.
Community-based training can be delivered through government funded training (at no cost to the community), or privately funded by the community. For government funded training, visit EMCR ESS Training.
For more information about privately funded training contracts (at cost to the community) reach out to emdcustomized@jibc.ca.
This area is undergoing updates. Please check back soon.
| EMRG-1615 Registration and Referrals | EMRG-1645 Convergent Volunteer Management |
| EMRG-1624 Resource Acquisition |
| EMRG-1622 ERA for Management | EMRG-1660 Public Safety Lifeline Leadership |
| EMRG-1674 Managing Volunteer Programs | EMRG-1681 Emergency Support Services Director |