The City of St. Albert, AB has received national recognition from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) for transforming its Emergency Management Program. The City was presented with the 2025 CAMA Willis Award for Innovation, in the 20,001 to 100,000 Population Category, during an awards ceremony held at CAMA’s national conference on May 28, in Mont Tremblant, QC. 

“CAMA is pleased to recognize St. Albert for the administrative excellence demonstrated through the transformations made to its emergency management program,” said Tony Kulbisky, CAMA President, CAMA Representative for Alberta and CAO for Westlock County, AB. “The program has enhanced the municipality’s ability to deal with an emergency, keep residents safe, and strengthen staff cooperation and collaboration.” 

“I am extremely proud of the incredible work and ingenuity that has gone into the City’s emergency management program,” says Mayor Cathy Heron. “During an emergency, every second counts. These innovative and collaborative tools address shared challenges for emergency responders across all municipalities and drive meaningful, sustainable changes in emergency management.” 

The City’s emergency management program exemplifies innovation by introducing transformative change to municipal emergency management practices and integrating three key projects.  

• “Know Your Zone” is the first initiative of its kind in Alberta to utilize ArcGIS mapping technology to create an interactive, real-time evacuation and shelter-in-place map. This represents a significant leap forward in public safety by delivering vital information directly to residents during emergencies.  
• The “Rapid Damage Assessment Tool” demonstrates creativity by integrating GIS and demographic data to streamline property assessments and recovery efforts. This process traditionally relied on time-consuming manual methods. This innovation minimizes errors, accelerates response times, and improves resource allocation.  
• The “Everbridge Mass Communication System” showcases significant change by modernizing how municipalities communicate during crises. Utilizing a cloud-based platform that delivers targeted, real-time alerts across multiple devices ensures rapid dissemination of critical information to municipal staff and other stakeholders. 

The emergency management program has significantly enhanced the municipality’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. It has improved public safety by enabling faster evacuations and better resource allocation. Internally, the program has strengthened cross-departmental coordination, ensuring a unified response to crises.  

A total of 54 submissions were received for this year’s CAMA awards program. To find out more about each award, and to see a video outlining each project, visit camacam.ca/awards and the 2025 CAMA Awards Recipients.  

A CAMA representative will make an official presentation to City staff and St. Albert City Council at the June 3rd City Council meeting.  

This is the second national award that the City of St. Albert has won for its emergency management program in 2025. The City won the Federal Provincial Territorial Emergency Management Exemplary Service Award for Resilient Communities by Public Safety Canada in February.  

Caption: Tony Kulbisky (left), CAMA National President and Chief Administrative Officer for Westlock County, AB presents Bill Fletcher, Chief Administrative Officer for St. Albert with the 2025 CAMA Willis Award for Innovation, in the 20,001 to 100,000 Population Category.

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