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Local governments play a key role in emergency management by developing the necessary policies and concrete procedures for responding eff ectively to community emergencies and their aftermath. However, because emergency measures in most jurisdictions are rarely, if ever, activated, public managers fi nd it diffi cult to evaluate and assess the quality of existing emergency management programs. Drawing on expert literature to identify 30 elements of a high-quality local emergency management program, key elements are refi ned and synthesized into a single framework that provides clearcut best practices for emergency program evaluation and performance measurement.

Canada is a country in the midst of a flood management policy transition that is shifting part of the flood damage burden from the state to homeowners. This transition-as well as the large financial losses resulting from flooding-have created a window of opportunity for Canada to implement strategies that increase property owners' capacity to avoid and absorb the financial and physical risks associated with flooding. This work presents foundational research into the extent to which Canadians' flood experience, perceptions of flood risks and socio-demographics shape their intentions and adoption of property level flood protection (PLFP). A bilingual, national survey was deployed in Spring 2016 and was completed by 2300 respondents across all 10 Canadian provinces. The survey was developed using assumptions in existing literature on flood risk behaviours and the determinants of flood risk management in similar jurisdictions. The paper argues that property owners are not willing to accept greater responsibility for flood risk as envisioned by recent policy changes. This finding is consistent with other OECD jurisdictions, where flood risk engagement strategies have been developed that could be replicated in Canada to encourage risk-sharing behaviour.

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