Canadian citizens volunteering in disasters: From emergence to networked governance

Abstract

How to improve coordination between formal and unaffiliated or spontaneous volunteers after emergencies is currently an international question with a high profile. Drawing on international disaster management literature and experiences and recent crisis events in Canada, our analysis examines four Canadian case studies to show that the inclusion of citizens in EM is becoming indispensable, as simultaneously as the frequency and intensity of natural disasters are seen to be growing due to climate change, and citizens are increasingly presenting their labour and resources as assets to be drawn on in emergency and postemergency situations. In this context, Canadian municipalities are starting to better manage the unpredictability of spontaneous citizen volunteering in emergencies by building anticipatory structures of networked governance for integrating diverse, pre‐existing, and in some cases, pre‐identified groups of citizens as volunteers in emergency management functions. Additionally, as the role of voluntary service organizations is becoming elevated in emergency response and recovery in Canada, these organizations can prospectively play the role of brokers to help emergency management agencies access and manage community‐based networks of voluntary resources.