Disaster Financial Assistance Announced for Municipalities

EMERGENCY MEASURES ORGANIZATION--Disaster Financial Assistance Program Announced for Municipalities

The province of Nova Scotia has announced a disaster financial assistance arrangement (DFAA) to help offset extraordinary costs incurred by municipalities and the provincial government as a result of the Feb. 18 blizzard.

"Government is committed to participating in cost-sharing arrangements wherever possible and responding to the needs of municipalities," said Ernest Fage, Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act.

"We have been working with Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada since the blizzard took place, to determine if the response to this extreme weather occurrence would be eligible for disaster financial assistance. As a result, we now have a program that helps municipalities meet the financial needs in their communities by recovering some of the extra costs associated with the blizzard."

Financial assistance is being made available to municipalities and provincial government departments to recover incremental response costs from the blizzard, such as staff overtime, rental of equipment and supplies. These are costs over and above what a province or municipality usually spends responding to winter storms.

Eligible costs are determined in accordance with the criteria laid out in federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements. These arrangements provide for the provinces and the federal government to share the costs. It is estimated that the entire DFAA program for the blizzard will be about $7 million.

Protection against private sector economic losses as a result of the blizzard -- such as lost revenue due to store closures -- is widely available as a component of business insurance policies.

The Emergency Measures Organization will work with municipalities to process their applications.