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The GEM-Canada National Steering Committee led by Natural Resources Canada - with members Public Safety Canada, Insurance Bureau of Canada, Defence Research and Development Canada, the Department of Finance, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Canadian Institute of Planners, Assembly of First Nations, and the Métis National Council – renews its commitment to support GEM for five years as Public Sponsor.

GEM Governing Board officially welcomed Canada as a new member in 2017. The renewed partnership is expected to continue its contribution to the assessment of earthquake risk using OpenQuake in support of disaster risk reduction (DRR) planning in Canada.

Sonia Talwar, Geological Survey of Canada, who has replaced Phil Hill as official representative, expressed excitement and is looking forward to a continued fruitful collaboration in the development of GEM’s future tools and risk models for earthquakes and other hazards in Canada.

“I am happy to represent Canada in the GEM Governing Board and continue the excellent working relationship that Phil Hill started three years ago. Canada will remain committed in the next five years to support GEM’s vision of a world that is resilient to earthquakes through development and enhancement of hazard and risk models, tools and data that are critical in formulating disaster risk reduction plans and strategies,” Sonia Talwar, Geological Survey of Canada.

Sonia was officially welcomed in the governing board meeting held in December 2019 at the GEM headquarters in Pavia, Italy. Phil Hill represented Canada from 2017-2019. His dedication to achieve earthquake risk reduction during his tenure paved the way for a sustained commitment from Canada.

“GEM is very pleased to continue our collaborative work with Canada to reduce and manage earthquake risk. We are thankful for the generous support that the government of Canada has committed for the years ahead. This will definitely strengthen our efforts in systemic risk and recovery modelling; and capacity development for integrated assessment and scenario planning,” John Schneider, GEM Secretary General.

Under the new agreement, the partnership will deliver a high-resolution profile of earthquake risk in Canada with support for the use of tools and methods to understand earthquake risk and take decisions to improve resilience. The GEM-Canada partnership will use the open source hazard and risk assessment tools developed by GEM’s international consortium of experts and combine these with expertise and knowledge on the Canadian risk environment.