EM Spotlight Series
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SPOTLIGHT SERIES WEBINARS
EVENT CALENDAR 2025
ABOUT: OAEM’s flagship webinar series is an educational forum dedicated to information sharing and collaboration for Ontario’s diverse emergency management and business continuity community. The series is provided free of charge for OAEM Members and $25.00 for non members. Each session requires participants to register. Events take place approximately once a month via ZOOM from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. If you have a topic that you would like us to feature, please contact administration@oaem.ca
Date | Guest Speaker(s)/Panel | Presentation Topic | Registration |
| April 16 2026 | Chris Case, Chief, Chatham-Kent Fire & Rescue | Learn about the hazards and challenges posed by abandoned gas wells and the importance of monitoring to prevent future incidents. The town of Wheatley has experienced two such incidents, including an explosion in 2021 and a more recent leak in November 2025. Chris will discuss response and lessons learned, and will also share information from the first collaborative symposium on legacy oil and gas well emergency response held in March 2026 in London ON. | REGISTRATION |
| Mar. 30 2026 | Brenda Dhillon, Genvis Canada's Country Manager, brings more than 15 years of management consulting and enterprise software experience across public, non-profit, and commercial sectors, with a track record of delivering complex, high-stakes implementations under pressure. She works directly with provincial EMOs, law enforcement, and frontline agencies, and has presented the MB Ready case study at the 2025 Disaster Forum in Alberta. | Learn about MB Ready, Manitoba’s province-wide emergency public information platform, rolled out within 72 hours in response to the 2025 wildfires. The platform gave residents, including those in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, a single trusted source for wildfire warnings, evacuation guidance, and real-time updates across multiple channels. We’ll explore the communications and coordination pressures Manitoba faced, the decision that triggered the rollout, what made 72-hour deployment possible, and the honest lessons for other jurisdictions. Participants will leave with a practical framework and replicable strategies they can apply in their own programs. | Completed |
| Feb. 11 2026 | Rahul Singh, Founder & Executive Director, GlobalMedic | Learn about GlobalMedic, a Canadian charity that focuses on delivering humanitarian aid both domestically and internationally with the greatest impact and most efficiency. Recent response missions include Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and Canadian wildfires. | Completed |
| Dec. 10 2025 | Diana Danila, Geographic Information System (GIS) Analyst, Information Technology, City of Guelph | Learn about the City of Guelph’s Emergency Management Program and GIS application within its Emergency Operations Centre to enhance emergency response capabilities – serving as a centralized system for accessing and visualizing information relevant to emergency management, aiding in decision-making and resource allocation. | Completed |
Oct. 15, 2025 | Christopher Allsop - Senior Manager, EM Volunteers & PDA Operations Ontario and Jeff Taylor, Senior Manager, Relief Operations Ontario. | Learn about the scope of the Canadian Red Cross' operations in Ontario, including details of 2025 deployments across the province. | Completed |
Sep. 24, 2025 | Kassondra Stockman-Sousa MFS, HcEM-M, CBCP Emergency Preparedness Advisor, Halton Healthcare | Strength in Unity: Collaborative Emergency Preparedness Exercises
| Completed |
Aug. 18 2025 | Vicki Gruber, Director, Safety & Security, Harbour Master, HOPA Ports | Learn about harbour operations, port security and emergency management at the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA), a day in the life of a Harbour Master and the recent HOPA Annual Port Security Exercise. | Completed |
June 18 2025 | Amy Bryant, EM and Security Coordinator Ministry of Northern Economic Development and Growth Ministry of Energy and Mines | Learn about abandoned mines and mine hazards in Ontario and the ministry's new public education program launch. | Completed |
May 26 2025 | Orest Sushko, Director Broadcast-Broadband Convergence B²C Lab, Humber Polytechnic | Learn about Humber Polytechnic Broadcast-Broadband Convergence B²C Lab and the Advancing Public Safety: Emergency Management Community Symposium (June 6, 2025) | Completed |
May 8 2025 | Candace Sellar, Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Erich Hidebrandt, Project Manager Worker and Public Safety | Learn about the CSA Group including an overview of the work in the public sector space. This session will feature the CSA Z1600 Emergency and continuity management program standard, the 3rd edition as well as an introduction to the recently launched 4th edition of the standard. Join us and participate/contribute in the discussion! | Completed |
Apr. 14 2025 | Jason Williams, Director of Protective Services/Fire Chief Municipality of Port Hope | Learn about the Municipality of Port Hope’s Municipal Rail Safety Plan, Evacuation and Transportation Plan and continuity of operations protocols as part of the municipality’s comprehensive Emergency Response Plan and key program elements. | Completed |
Apr. 10 2025 | Dr. David Sills, Director Northern Tornadoes Project, CSSL | Learn about the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory (CSSL) at Western University; a new research center that will transform understanding of damaging winds, hail, and flash floods in Canada. | Completed |
Jan. 15 2025 | Steve Murphy, Manager Preparedness, 911 and Corporate Projects, County of Dufferin | Learn about Dufferin County municipalities Emergency Support Service (ESS) trailers and volunteers, the first of their kind in Ontario at a regional level, and their deployment during local emergency and disaster situations. | Completed |
Jan. 14 2025 | Lisa Priest, Assistant Deputy Minister, Preparedness, Programs and Planning, Emergency Management, TBS Nina Diaz, Director, Emergency Management Programs and Partnerships TBS | This session will provide an overview of Ontario Corps, a new volunteer emergency response team for Ontario natural disasters and emergencies. Learn about Ontario Corps, and their role in providing ground assistance, including emergency shelter, debris management and flood protection. The new Ontario Corps volunteer organization, a group of partners and people that the government can call to help communities hit hard by emergencies and natural disasters, would supplement communities’ emergency response amid natural disasters and other crises. Complimentary registration for OAEM members and guests! | Completed |