Ottawa vows $100 million for Canadian Red Cross response to virus, disasters

OTTAWA — The Canadian Red Cross is poised to receive $100 million in federal funds to support public health measures and rapidly enhance the group’s capacity to respond to COVID-19, as well as future floods and wildfires.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding on Saturday, saying national and community organizations are stepping up to provide crucial support to vulnerable people during the pandemic.

“They are being asked to deliver the same services and support that we have always depended on, in much more challenging circumstances. It takes resources to do that,” Trudeau said in a statement.

Up to $41 million would address the charity’s immediate needs, including recruiting volunteers and staff, supporting quarantine and isolation sites, and expanding its roster of infection prevention and control specialists.

The funding could also be used to procure and deploy emergency health supplies and equipment in case of future waves of the virus.

The president and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross, Conrad Sauve, said the charity has been heavily involved in a wide range of activities associated with Canada’s response to the pandemic.

It has supported repatriated Canadians quarantined at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ont., and worked with Global Affairs Canada to support Canadians hospitalized in Japan after the outbreak of COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February.

In Toronto, the Red Cross has helped reach out and deliver food to those who cannot leave their homes, such as seniors and people with compromised immune systems, and volunteers are calling seniors across the country to make sure they have what they need as the pandemic wears on.