Yellowknife has a subarctic climate, which means in addition to potentially facing emergencies such as pandemics, chemical spills or plane crashes, our community is also susceptible to emergencies caused by extreme weather conditions. For example, in the winter, residents may experience power outages or have their pipes freeze in -30°C or colder. During the summer months, wildfires are a real concern. To relieve stress in the face of an emergency, familiarize yourself with the types of emergencies that could arise and plan ahead.

Community Emergency Plan 

The City of Yellowknife has a Community Emergency Plan that enhances the coordination of resources to prepare, mitigate, respond and recover from major emergencies or disasters. This plan is prepared with an all-hazards approach and a wide scope to allow a flexible response to any emergency.

The Community Emergency Plan is reviewed and updated annually.

In the event of a major emergency or disaster, the City would activate its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), where critical staff would work together to carry out the planning and operations involved in managing an emergency. 

The EOC is responsible for: 

  • Capturing and centralizing information about the major emergency or disaster
  • Providing policy direction for coordinating and supporting on-the-ground responders
  • Providing a structure to identify critical needs and to establish major emergency or disaster response priorities
  • Determining how to effectively use available resources and requesting resources from the territorial government if necessary
  • Providing the public with clear direction and updates from the beginning to the end of the emergency, ensuring the community has the information they need to make educated decisions
  • Managing the transition from response to recovery and communicating short and long-term recovery goals to the public

More information on emergency preparedness, including the 2024 NWT Emergency Plan and NWT Emergency Management Act, can be found on the GNWT’s website.

Evacuation Plan

The Evacuation Plan, a companion document to the Community Emergency Plan, would be implemented by the City in the event of an emergency situation (like a wildfire) causing residents to evacuate. The Evacuation Plan is developed with an all-hazards approach.

Community Wildfire Protection Plan

In the event of a wildfire, the Environment and Climate Change Forest Management Division of the GNWT (Government of Northwest Territories) will relay information related to wildfire risk and behaviour to the City. Based on this information, the City will communicate updates to the public. Wildfire updates will also be provided on the GNWT Newsroom and wildfire update webpages.

The City's Community Wildfire Protection Plan 2025 looks at ways to build resilience and reduce wildfire risk.