CTV News Edmonton has reported:

The federal government is providing $15.6 million to the Canadian Red Cross to train and equip workers for teams deployed during disasters across Canada. Eleanor Olszewski, minister of emergency management and minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development, announced the first portion of Ottawa’s $108 million commitment on Friday in Edmonton.

The funding is being delivered through the Humanitarian Workforce Program. The $108 million commitment was first announced in May of this year. The $15.6 million announced this week will be distributed over 2026 and 2027.

Olszewski said the wildfires in Fort McMurray and Jasper had a deep effect on Albertans, including people outside the evacuation zones who knew and cared about those communities. “As an Albertan, I know how deeply people were affected by the wildfires in Fort McMurray and in Jasper. Even for those of us outside evacuation zones, these are places that we knew, and that we care about deeply,” she told reporters.

She said people across the country contributed to Red Cross appeals to help families they had never met in Alberta. “I think those people know and understand now really what it means to have Canadians stand beside them. People across the country contributed to Red Cross appeals, and they gave what they could to help families that they had never met, right here in our province.”

Melanie Soler, the Red Cross’s vice-president of emergency management, said the funding recognizes emergencies are becoming “more frequent, more complex, and more demanding.” Federal support has funded more than 16,000 workforce deployments since 2020, she said.

In 2025-2026 alone, the Canadian Red Cross supported nearly 100,000 people following emergencies, including wildfires in Ontario and British Columbia. Soler said the funding would also support innovation and specialized expertise to better serve people in northern, rural and remote communities.