Standing on Guard for Canada

When disaster strikes—from wildfires to floods to public health emergencies—the partners from Team Rubicon Canada and the Labatt Disaster Relief Program are ready to serve communities in crisis

“THE BEAST” WAS where it all started. On May 1, 2016, the historic Fort Mcmurray wildfire began burning in Alberta, eventually destroying nearly

1.5 million acres of boreal forest, homes, and industrial work camps. Watching in horror as the blaze grew to unheard-of proportions, earning its ferocious moniker, a small group of Canadian military veterans saw an opportunity to do their part on a grand scale.

By May 26, 2016, the group had set up Team Rubicon Canada, a disasterresponse organization that now boasts a membership of 2,000-plus “Canadian veterans, first responders, and kick-ass civilians.” It then deployed a volunteer team for its first mission, Operation Pay Dirt, to the Fort Mcmurray frontlines.

“Team Rubicon serves communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service, leveraging their skills and experience to help people prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and humanitarian crises,” says Ashley Pardy- Serre, director of development for Team Rubicon Canada. Known as Greyshirts, for their uniform, volunteers from across the country donate their time and specialized skills, domestically and overseas, in an effort to create what she calls “the most trusted, agile, and adaptive disasterresponse organization in Canada.”

The group’s recruiting ethos may sound tongue in cheek—“Team Rubicon Canada looks for volunteers who are foolish enough to think they can change the world and smart enough to have a chance”—but its members take missions seriously. In five years, they have served thousands of people in eight countries around the globe.

In 2020, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic offered fresh opportunities for Team Rubicon to extend a helping hand to Canadians—and a surprisingly eager pool of new recruits. “When many organizations were struggling to maintain their volunteer force, Team Rubicon Canada was growing ours,” says Pardy- Serre. “This was due in large part to our capacity to continue safely serving communities… and our ability to pivot our services to meet the vulnerabilities and challenges we saw emerge.”

In spring 2021, Team Rubicon Canada formed a partnership with the Labatt Breweries of Canada’s Disaster Relief Program, which also deploys volunteer teams to disaster zones to deliver clean, safe drinking water to residents and frontline rescue workers. The partners’ first mobilization came in August when teams reported for duty