Emergency Management Assistance Program guidelines for the rental or purchase of air purifiers under emergency response and recovery funding

Find out if you can be reimbursed for renting or buying air filtration units for communities impacted by wildfire smoke.

During wildlfire response, the Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP) can support impacted First Nations on reserves manage poor air quality caused by wildfires by reimbursing costs associated with the rental or purchase, if rental is not an option of air filtration units, for example, air purifiers and air scrubbers under the following criteria:

• Units need to be rented or purchased and used under the response period in which a community is confirmed to be under significant risk of poor air quality due to smoke caused by wildfires and confirmed by a region's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) or equivalent indicator
• Air filtration units are to be used for high-risk, elderly people and young children
• Air filtration units need to be installed in community spaces, for example, a community centre

As EMAP is intended to support at a broader community level, air filtration units rented or purchased for individual homes can only be considered on a case-by-case basis and in the following situations:

• The Air Quality Health Index values or equivalent government recognized air monitor value for the community is rated as high health risk, for example, 7 or higher based on AQHI
• The community health subject matter expert(s) are recommending an individual approach to meet specific health needs of the high-risk community members. Pre-identified priority 1 and priority 2 members validated by health experts could be considered for supports
• Only high-risk members with chronic or acute health conditions which put them at risk of evacuating due to smoke, seniors, pregnant individuals and families with infants and young children under 12 years can be considered eligible
• If purchasing air filtration units for individual homes, the following is required:
  • The community has confirmed rentals are not available
  • Units should be designed for home use, for example, air purifiers and not industrial air scrubbers
  • Meets guidelines established by Health Canada for the effective use of air purifiers for wildfire smoke
  • The maximum amount EMAP could support is $1000 per unit, inclusive of a replacement HEPA filter per unit at the time of unit purchase
  • The maximum number of units per household cannot exceed the number of high-risk individuals residing in a single residence, as identified by the community's health subject matter expert
  • All air purification units purchased through EMAP will be considered community assets after the event and are to be used for future emergency needs. The community is responsible for all maintenance and repairs to air purifiers including purchasing and changing replacement HEPA filters as required
  • Additional equipment, for example, generators or electrical hook ups required to run an air purifier in an individual's home is not EMAP eligible

To learn more about EMAP eligibility and support for air filtration units for community space or individual homes, contact your ISC regional office.