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

Find out if you can be reimbursed for renting or buying air conditioning units for communities impacted by extreme heat events.

During extreme heat events, the Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP) can support impacted First Nations on reserves manage extreme heat through reimbursing costs associated with the rental or purchase, if rental is not an option, of air conditioning units 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 extreme heat as confirmed by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the provincial or territorial government or neighbouring municipality, typically experiencing 2 or more consecutive days in which the maximum temperature is greater than or equal to 29 degrees Celsius^{Footnote 1}
• Air conditioning units are to be used for high-risk, elderly people, pregnant individuals, and young children
• Air conditioning 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 conditioning units rented or purchased for individual homes can only be considered on a case-by-case basis and in the following situations:

• Community health subject matter expert(s) recommend an individual approach to meet specific health needs of high-risk community members who are not able to relocate to communal spaces. Only high-risk, pre-identified priority 1 and 2 members validated by health experts could be considered for supports, including seniors, pregnant individuals, families with infants or young children under 12 years and members whose chronic or acute health conditions cause high risk of medical problems caused by extreme indoor temperatures can be considered eligible
• If purchasing air filtration units for individual homes, the following is required:
  • Community has confirmed rentals are not available
  • Units should be designed for home use, for example, portable air conditioning units and not central air conditioners
  • Maximum amount EMAP could support is $600 per unit
  • 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 conditioning 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 conditioners
  • Additional equipment, for example, generators or electrical hook ups, required to run an air conditioner in an individual's home is not EMAP eligible

For more information on EMAP eligibility and support for air conditioning units for community space or individual homes, contact your ISC regional office.