Business resumption

Categories of essential services

Government of Alberta essential services are classified into 4 categories:

1. Critical – Services that must resume within 24 hours or will definitely result in injury, loss of life, infrastructure destruction, loss of confidence in the government, and significant loss of public revenue.
2. Vital – Services that must resume within 72 hours or will likely result in injury, loss of life, infrastructure destruction, loss of confidence in the government, and significant loss of public revenue.
3. Necessary – Services that must resume within 2 weeks or could result in considerable loss, further destruction of infrastructure, or disproportionate recovery costs.
4. Desired – Services that could be delayed for 2 weeks or longer, but are required in order to return to normal operating conditions and alleviate further disruption or disturbance to normal operating conditions.

Severity of disruption

The severity of disruption to government essential services is measured using 7 factors:

1. The manageability of the disruption
2. The threat to staff health and safety
3. The damage potential of essential services and records
4. Severity of damage to government infrastructure
5. The effect on interdependent services and elements
6. The financial impact
7. The visibility of the event

For each of these factors, the disruption may be classified as either minor, moderate, major or extreme.

Requirement to report business disruptions

Government departments are required to report business disruptions to the Alberta Emergency Management Agency's Plans Section for the following reasons:

• mobilize support for a possible response
• keep archival records to track hazards and frequency trends