B. People and Environments: Canada's Interactions with the Global Community · Canada's Interactions with the Global Community

Aid and Disaster Response: How Canada Helps in Emergencies

B3.4 B3.3 B3About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain the difference between humanitarian aid and development aid.
I can describe how the Canadian government responds to disasters and emergencies around the world.
I can describe how NGOs respond to disasters and emergencies.
I can explain why help must fit what people actually need.

Words to know

natural disaster
A sudden event in nature that causes great damage, like an earthquake, hurricane, flood, drought or wildfire.

emergency
A serious, dangerous situation that needs action right away. Wars and disease outbreaks can also cause emergencies.

humanitarian aid
Emergency help that saves lives and reduces suffering right after a disaster or during a crisis: food, water, shelter, medical care.

development aid
Long-term help that builds a better future, like schools, clean-water systems, farming training and health clinics.

relief
The first help given after a disaster.

DART
The Canadian Armed Forces' Disaster Assistance Response Team, which can provide clean water and medical care after a disaster.

When the ground shakes

Imagine waking up to your house shaking. Roads crack. Power goes out. Clean water stops flowing.

This is what an earthquake can do. When a disaster is too big for a country to handle alone, other countries, including Canada, and many organizations step in to help.

Two kinds of aid

Humanitarian aid is emergency help. It saves lives right now: rescue, food, clean water, tents, blankets, medicine.
Development aid is long-term help. It builds a better future: schools, wells, health clinics, training farmers, supporting women's businesses.

After a disaster, help usually moves through stages: relief, then recovery, then rebuilding (ideally in a way that makes the community safer next time).

The stages of help after a disaster. Relief comes first, recovery follows, and rebuilding can take years.

How the Government of Canada responds

Find out what is needed. Canadian diplomats and partners on the ground report on what is needed. The country hit by the disaster usually asks for help.
Give money to trusted partners: UN agencies (like the World Food Programme), the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and Canadian NGOs. Global Affairs Canada manages this.
Send supplies such as tents, blankets and hygiene kits.
Send people. The Canadian Armed Forces' Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) can purify drinking water and give medical care. DART has helped after disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti (2010), Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines (2013) and the earthquake in Nepal (2015).
Match donations. Sometimes the government promises to match the money Canadians donate to certain charities for a disaster, up to a set amount. This doubles the effect of each gift.
Help Canadians who are in the area, through embassies and consulates.

When the government promises to match donations, every dollar you give becomes two, up to a set amount.

How NGOs respond

The Canadian Red Cross collects donations and can send trained aid workers and supplies.
Doctors Without Borders sends medical teams.
The Humanitarian Coalition brings several Canadian aid charities together to make one joint appeal, so Canadians know where to give.
Faith groups, service clubs and schools raise money.

It goes both ways

Canada receives help too. During Canada's severe wildfire seasons, firefighters from other countries, such as the United States, Australia and South Africa, have come to help fight fires in Canada.

	Humanitarian aid	Development aid
When?	Right after a disaster or during a crisis	Over many years
Goal	Save lives, reduce suffering	Reduce poverty, build a better future
Examples	Clean water, food, tents, medical care, rescue	Schools, wells, clinics, farming training
Who helps?	Governments, UN agencies, Red Cross, NGOs, DART	Governments, UN agencies, NGOs, local organizations

A long-standing target

In 1969, a report led by Lester B. Pearson, a former prime minister of Canada, recommended that wealthy countries give 0.7% of their national income in development aid each year. The UN adopted this target in 1970. Canada has given aid every year but has not reached the 0.7% target. People disagree about how much aid Canada should give.

Worked example

Let's plan a response

A strong hurricane has destroyed homes and polluted the drinking water on a Caribbean island. What would the Government of Canada and NGOs likely do in the first week? In the first year?

First week (humanitarian aid / relief): Canada gives money to the Red Cross and UN agencies for clean water, food and shelter. It might send DART to purify water. Canadian charities ask for donations, and the government may match them. The embassy checks on Canadians on the island.
First months (recovery): NGOs help families repair homes and restart schools; health workers watch for diseases from dirty water.
First year and beyond (development / rebuilding): Canada and NGOs may help rebuild stronger homes and schools, repair water systems, and plan for future storms.
Always: ask local people and the island's government what they need most, and hire local workers where possible.

Week one: emergency humanitarian aid (water, food, shelter, maybe DART). Later: recovery and development aid to rebuild stronger, led by what local people need.

Hands-on activity

Emergency kit and "what is needed?" sort

Part 1. With a grown-up, look at your family's emergency supplies (or make a list if you do not have any). Canada's public safety advice is to have enough for at least 72 hours: water, food that won't spoil, a flashlight, batteries, a first-aid kit, medicine, important papers.

Part 2. Make two lists: Things that help in the first 3 days after a disaster and Things that help a community in the next 3 years. Sort these: bottled water, a new school, tents, training for nurses, a stronger bridge, blankets, a clean-water system, rescue teams, seeds and farm tools.

Answer to check: first 3 days: bottled water, tents, blankets, rescue teams. Next 3 years: a new school, training for nurses, a stronger bridge, a clean-water system, seeds and farm tools. (Seeds and tools could also be given in the first months so farmers can plant the next crop.)

Your turn

What is the difference between humanitarian aid and development aid?

Name three things the Government of Canada can do after a disaster in another country.

What is DART, and what can it do?

Name one disaster where DART helped.

What does it mean when the government matches donations?

Put in order: rebuilding, relief, recovery.

More practice: warm-up

Is a tent given after an earthquake humanitarian or development aid?

Is building a new school over three years humanitarian or development aid?

Name one NGO that responds to disasters.

Name two kinds of natural disasters.

For how many hours does Canada's public safety advice say a family should be ready on its own?

More practice: on your own

Why does help usually start with water, food and shelter?

Why should aid groups ask local people what they need?

How is Canada's response to a disaster an example of interdependence?

What is the Humanitarian Coalition, and why might it be helpful?

Why does rebuilding often try to make things stronger than before?

Challenge

After a disaster, a class wants to collect used clothes and ship them overseas. Explain a better option and why.

Canada has not reached the 0.7% aid target. Give one reason someone might want Canada to give more aid and one reason someone might want it to give less or the same.

Compare how the government and an NGO respond to the same flood. Which do you think is more important? Explain.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is humanitarian aid?

What can Canada's DART do?

What is the correct order of help after a disaster?

When the government matches donations, it...

Why do aid groups often prefer money instead of used items?

Which is development aid?

Which shows that help goes both ways?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Canada responds to disasters and emergencies through government funding (Global Affairs Canada), supplies, the Canadian Armed Forces' DART, matching funds, and partnerships with UN agencies and NGOs like the Red Cross. Humanitarian aid saves lives now; development aid builds a better future.

How to help at home:

Review your own family's 72-hour emergency kit together. It connects global learning to personal safety.
If a disaster is in the news, keep the focus on helpers and how people respond. Limit graphic images and reassure your child.
Talk about checking that a charity is registered before giving.

Common difficulties:

Mixing up humanitarian and development aid. Ask: "Does it save lives this week, or build something for the future?"
Thinking donated items are always best. Explain why money is usually more useful.
Aid levels are a topic of public debate; present both sides fairly.