View Royal

Liveable, green, sustainable.

Emergency Support Services

View Royal and Colwood Emergency Support Services

Emergency Support Services (ESS) is a Provincial program administered by municipalities to respond to the needs of residents evacuated due to an emergency or disaster, from house fires affecting one family to earthquakes affecting a whole community. ESS assists displaced residents with finding shelter, food and incidentals such as clothing. Our ESS team is staffed by dedicated and well-trained volunteers who meet and train monthly or as opportunities arise and serve the municipalities of Colwood and View Royal and the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.

Residents who are forced from their homes due to fire, floods, earthquakes, weather related emergency evacuations to name a few may receive basic emergency support services (ESS) for up to 72 hours. We encourage you to get the BC Services Card app, which is a government digital ID on your mobile device or tablet and may help you receive supports through ESS (e.g. e-transfers) when registering for ERA during an evacuation. If you have been evacuated and need ESS support, register for Evacuation Registration and Assistance (ERA) online at ess.gov.bc.ca.

Our Volunteer Responders may be your family members, your neighbours or your friends. Emergency Support Services respond to emergencies when requested by our local authorities. The Volunteer Responders have received training through the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) sponsored by Emergency Management Climate Readiness.

When a smaller number of people are affected Emergency Support Services (ESS) may be called to help. If the emergency is larger and many families are affected ESS Volunteer Responders may be requested to open a Reception Center where evacuated families would be directed for emergency support services. The Reception Centre location would be announced at the time of the evacuation. A Reception Center is a safe place for evacuees to meet and receive support.


Be Involved in your Community as an Emergency Support Services (ESS) Volunteer Responder

Emergency Support Services (ESS) Team relies on Volunteer Responders. Emergency Support Services (ESS) volunteers are on the ground supporting citizens from our communities in their time of need at any time of the day or night. So much of what ESS does is helping to support our local citizens, from one family emergencies to larger evacuations that affect our community.

Justice Institute of BC (https://www.jibc.ca/areas-of-study/emergency-management/emergency-support-services-ess) does much of the training for ESS Teams both in person and online training. We maintain emergency supplies throughout our area, attend public relations events, contact suppliers/vendors for their support, practice training to open a reception centre or group lodging. If this sound interesting to you, please contact us.

For View Royal, contact Captain Troy Mollin (250) 479-7322 or TMollin@viewroyal.ca

For Colwood, contact Assistant Chief Scott Abrahamson or Assistant Chief Josh Pettigrew
(250) 478-8321


Business Owners – during an emergency, you can play a role

If you are a community minded business owner in our area and would like more information about the Emergency Support Services Program and helping your community, please contact us.

For View Royal, contact Captain Troy Mollin (250) 479-7322 or TMollin@viewroyal.ca

For Colwood, contact Assistant Chief Scott Abrahamson or Assistant Chief Josh Pettigrew
(250) 478-8321