Critical Infrastructure Assessments for Local Governments
CI Assessment Project Team

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
There is a growing interest amongst communities to formally
examine the resilience of locally-owned critical infrastructures.
However, community members are often overwhelmed by the
rigorous processes and technical outputs of these assessments.
This can result in stakeholders feeling detached from the process
and confused by how to translate assessment outputs into
tangible planning activities. To address this challenge, Defense
Research and Development Canada engaged with Emergency
Management British Columbia and the Justice Institute of BC on
the development of a user-friendly critical infrastructure
assessment process for local governments. The development
process was structured in the form of two research projects - the
first spanning in 2014/2015 and the second in 2015/2016.

METHODS

Screenshot from Basic Concepts Video

Three field tests were performed with communities in British
Columbia. These communities were selected based on their
current level of emergency planning as well as to ensure a broad
cross section of local governments structures were being
represented. Port Moody was selected to represents a typical
medium-sized government; Capital Regional District was selected
to represent a large district; and Village of Lions Bay was selected
to represent a smaller, rural community.
The first field test consisted of a facilitated workshop with a focus
on identifying potential video content and tools to aid facilitation.
The second and third field tests then allowed for the testing of
draft materials, soliciting further feedback from communities, and
determining changes to materials.

DISCUSSION

Poster for use during workshops

RESULTS
The field tests resulted in three findings that guided the
subsequent development of materials. These were:
1. Communities desired videos that describe a step-by-step
assessment process
2. Communities desired template meeting materials, addressing
the key details needed for each meeting
3. Communities desired completed example templates for each
activity, illustrating the ideal structure for presenting
assessment findings.

The outputs of these research projects was the creation of a
community-driven critical infrastructure assessment process. This
process makes use of plain-language terminology and step-bystep instructions to guide lay-users in identifying the critical
dependencies between locally-owned assets and the services
provided by the local government. Materials developed as part of
this project include:
• Getting Started Guide
• Video and transcript
• Kick-Off Meeting Invitation &
identifying an overview of the
PowerPoint
process
• Hazard Scenario
• Video and transcript
Development Instructions
identifying next steps
• Posters
• A post-meeting email
• A revised version of the Tool
template
with a completed example
• Instructions for Completing
• An example of output
the Critical Infrastructure
recommendations
Assessment Tool
• Video and transcript
• Follow-Up Meeting Invitation
identifying basic concepts
& PowerPoint

This project resulted in the creation of materials that are
demonstrably useful for local governments attempting to determine
locally owned critical infrastructure. However, it also illuminates the
challenge in subjectively identifying and prioritizing critical assets.
For this process to be successfully implemented, a community will
require buy-in and participation from a cross-section of local
government employees. Conversely, more was not always better
in terms of employee participation. Rather, the best results were
obtained when a community engaged with key personnel (such as
Managers and Directors) from a variety of departments while
minimizing the number of extra employees.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project was sponsored by Defence Research and
Development Canada and Emergency Management BC, and
conducted by Justice Institute of BC.

Portion of completed assessment tool

JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA