The B.C. government says it is streamlining the process though which people can become an Emergency Support Services volunteer.

It will replace the current week-long training model with a one-day course starting May 4.

The province says this new model – which will be administered by the Justice Institute of British Columbia – comes in response to feedback from communities and input from the Premier’s expert task force on emergencies.

“Last summer, we heard from people who wanted to help evacuees but faced barriers in getting trained to do so,” Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said. “We’re acting on lessons learned by rolling out a new one-day training option to enable more people to respond in times of need, helping to ensure that evacuees are supported in an effective and timely manner.”

Ma says the accelerated course will prepare new ESS volunteers so they can support evacuees by phone and in-person. She also says it will increase the number of volunteers across the province.

“A special shout out to Kelowna West MLA Ben Stewart who helped identify this training barrier and provided that feedback to me and my team so that we could incorporate his observations into the actions we are taking,” Ma added, in a social media post.

“We all need to pull together during emergencies.”

The ESS program – which is funded by the province – is meant to provide temporary support like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, to people who are unable to meet their needs when they are evacuated.

“The provincial funding supported the development of localized made-in-Kamloops training for ESS responders,” Natasha Hartson, the Community and Emergency Supports Supervisor for the City of Kamloops, was quoted as saying.

“This training will help both evacuees and responders by giving volunteers the tools they need to best support evacuees during an emergency.”

Hartson previously told Radio NL the City was looking for more ESS volunteers ahead of the upcoming flood and fire season.

“With summer holidays, larger-scale events, longer events we are always looking to expand to ensure we can support evacuees the way best possible and be able to give volunteers time off and not burn people out,” Hartson said, noting the 129 member strong Kamloops ESS team logged over 12,000 volunteer hours in 2023.

The province is also contributing about $3.3 million to support around 100 local ESS projects like volunteer recruitment, retention and training, as well as the purchase of equipment.