Nova Scotia’s new group of emergency volunteers put to the test in the last year

HALIFAX — Less than a year after it was established, Nova Scotia’s new emergency corps of volunteers known as the Nova Scotia Guard already has more than 2,600 members and some tough assignments under its belt.

A legislative committee heard Tuesday how the organization, launched in March 2024, was put to the test twice in 2025 when first responders were called to deal with emergencies.

The first call came in May when two young children, Jack and Lilly Sullivan, were reported missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., the rural community north of Halifax where they were last seen.

A spokesperson for the Department of Emergency Management said Nova Scotia Guard members did not help with the search because their main role is to provide support for first responders and community members.

Instead, guard members in blue vests helped with traffic control on narrow dirt roads and distributing food to search crews and others so they could stay on task.

“Nova Scotia Guard volunteers allowed them to do what they were trained to do,” said Meredith Cowan, the department’s executive director of planning and preparedness.

In August, guard members headed to the Long Lake area in Annapolis County, where wildfires destroyed 20 homes and kept firefighters and other first responders busy for seven weeks.

“At the firehall, we did everything from providing some snacks to having … a clinic on how to apply for financial assistance,” Cowan told the standing committee on community services.

“Nova Scotia Guard folks were trained to help people through that. And it was very comforting for the residents to have a neighbour assisting them.”

Neal Alderson, director of the Nova Scotia Guard, recalled that during the Long Lake fires, a local business dispatched a refrigerated truck filled with frozen treats to thank firefighters. But the truck could not get close to the community centre that was serving as a command post.

Alderson said a member of the guard quickly retrieved a freezer from his garage and set it up in the centre, where the treats were quickly dispensed.

“I was blown away by the compassion,” Alderson told the committee. “(The firefighters) were so appreciative …. I’m very confident that when the need is there, our members will be there to support the community.”

Cowan said that of the 2,600 Nova Scotians who have signed up to be part of the guard,1,500 are ready to be deployed in the field.

That makes the Nova Scotia Guard one of the largest organizations of its kind in Canada, with Ontario’s version attracting 700 volunteers since it was set up in December 2024, and Quebec’s emergency volunteer corps has about 200, she said.

According to the Nova Scotia Guard’s website, the organization is accepting volunteers with or without applicable skills. The site says volunteers will be asked to perform many different chores, including cleaning up debris, transporting supplies, delivering food, sorting donations, shovelling snow and supporting emergency shelters.

Cowan said the guard is now concentrating on providing more training and conducting exercises to sharpen skills.

Meanwhile, volunteers have signed up in every Nova Scotia county, but more are needed along the province’s South Shore and the Annapolis Valley, she said.

Cowan said the organization was established because the province decided that the worst time to organize “spontaneous volunteers” was during an emergency.

“In the middle of an emergency, people need direction, communication and supervision,” Cowan told the committee. “Without structure, volunteer efforts, despite their best intentions, can become overwhelming or even unsafe.”

Maryanne Wagstaff, a member of the Nova Scotia Guard, told the committee that she was initially worried when she was first sent to the Long Lake area.

“There’s planes flying overhead. There’s choppers. There’s firefighters,” she said. “But there was never a sense of chaos. Everyone was so cohesive. Everyone was working together, just getting things done. There was a sense of urgency, but never chaos …. Everybody kind of knew what they were doing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2026.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press