IAEM Canada announces winners of 2023 merit and prepared community awards

IAEM Canada is proud to announce the deserving recipients of the 2023 Merit Award and the Prepared Community Award, recognized during the Annual General Meeting on June 9.

Merit Award

The Merit Award recognizes an individual or organization for having performed a significant contribution to the emergency management field in Canada in recent years. This year’s recipients are Danielle Trudeau and David Day.

Danielle is a dedicated member of IAEM (including IAEM Canada BC Region board member) and has made significant contributions to emergency management throughout her career. Danielle recently served as the director, emergency measures, for the Government of Yukon, supporting the territory through the COVID-19 response and unprecedented flooding. She has responded to and provided leadership during many major disasters and events across Canada; as well has played a pivotal role in #AdvancingEM in Canada, serving on various regional, provincial, and federal committees and serving as co-chair for the Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management and Canadian Council for Emergency Managers. No matter what obstacle Danielle has encountered, she is continually able to overcome those obstacles with meaningful adaptations, innovations, and change to continue moving things forward.

David has led the City of St. John’s through hurricanes and many snow events, amongst other major emergencies. He is well known for the leadership and collaboration he brings to the profession and his work. David is a dedicated member of IAEM, having served on the IAEM Canada Atlantic Region board and now serving as a CEM Commissioner. David has also played a pivotal role in #AdvancingEM in Canada, leading innovative changes to emergency operations for St. John’s. Respect, commitment, dedication, and integrity are just a few of the keywords used to describe the emergency management leader that David is.

Prepared Community Award

We proudly announced the recipients of this year’s IAEM Canada’s Prepared Community Award. This year’s recipient is The City of Airdrie (Emergency Social Services) for developing a Virtual Community Care Co-ordination Centre to co-ordinate support for vulnerable populations during a pandemic.

“… the success of this program can be attributed to the desire of the community to safely provide for the needs of a population affected by crisis.” Congratulations City of Airdrie.