Originally published May 3, 2026. Last updated August 19, 2026.
Most of us do not want to spend much time imagining emergencies.
But having a family emergency plan is not about expecting something bad to happen. It is about removing some of the decisions you would otherwise have to make in a stressful moment.
Where would everyone meet if you could not get home?
Who could pick up your child from daycare if you could not?
Does your babysitter know your address without searching for it?
Where are your medications, emergency supplies and important contacts?
A good family emergency plan answers those questions before you need the answers.
And it does not have to be complicated.
Let's build one together.
What Should a Family Emergency Plan Include?
At its simplest, your household emergency plan should answer eight questions:
What emergencies are most likely where we live?
How would we safely leave our home?
Where would we meet if we became separated?
How would we contact one another?
Who could care for or pick up our children if we could not?
Does anyone have medical, accessibility or other specific needs?
Where are our emergency supplies and important information?
What is our plan for pets?
If you can answer those eight questions, you already have the foundation of a useful plan.
The Government of Canada's family emergency planning tool can also help you create and print a household emergency plan.
Step 1: Know Which Emergencies You Are Planning For
Emergency preparedness will look different depending on where you live.
Wildfires may be a major consideration for one family. Flooding, severe storms, earthquakes, winter weather, extended power outages or extreme heat may be more relevant for another.
Start by identifying the emergencies most likely to affect your community.
Then find out where your municipality, province or territory shares official emergency information and alerts.
You do not need a completely separate plan for every possible event.
Instead, think about the actions that come up again and again:
evacuating your home
sheltering in place
losing electricity or water
being unable to return home
becoming separated from family members
needing important medications or medical equipment
receiving an evacuation order
Once those basics are covered, you can adapt your plan to the risks where you live.
Step 2: Create an Emergency Contact and Communication Plan
In an emergency, family members may be at home, work, school, daycare or somewhere else entirely.
Decide ahead of time how you will reconnect.
Your emergency contact list should include:
parents and guardians
grandparents or other trusted caregivers
school and daycare contacts
healthcare providers when relevant
a nearby trusted friend or neighbour
an out-of-area contact
any important medical or support services your family relies on
Include phone numbers and other useful contact information.
Keep a printed copy somewhere easy to find, such as your refrigerator or family command centre.
Copies can also be useful in older children's backpacks, diaper bags, emergency kits and with regular caregivers.
Choose an out-of-area contact
Pick someone outside your immediate community who could act as a central contact if family members become separated.
Make sure everyone who is old enough knows who that person is and how to reach them.
If cellular networks are busy, text messages or other non-voice communication may sometimes get through more easily than a phone call.
Make sure children know their home information
When developmentally appropriate, teach children:
their full name
their home address
a caregiver's full name
an important phone number
For younger children, a printed emergency card can provide information they are not yet able to memorize.
Step 3: Choose Family Meeting Places
Choose at least two places where your family could reunite.
One meeting place near your home
This is useful for something such as a home fire.
Choose somewhere easy to identify and far enough away from the house to be safe, such as a neighbour's driveway, a tree, a mailbox or another familiar landmark.
Everyone should know:
If we leave the house in an emergency, this is where we meet.
One meeting place outside your immediate neighbourhood
Choose somewhere your family could go if returning home or staying in your neighbourhood was not possible.
Depending on your community, that might be the home of a trusted friend or relative, a community location or another familiar place.
Also decide who could pick up your children from school or daycare if you were unable to get there.
Make sure that person is authorized according to the school's or childcare provider's policies.
Step 4: Make a Home Fire Escape Plan
Your general family emergency plan should include a specific plan for getting everyone out of your home during a fire.
Walk through your home and identify possible exits.
When possible, know two ways out of each room and make sure doors, windows and escape routes are not blocked.
Young children and anyone who requires assistance should be included in the plan.
Think realistically about:
who would help a baby or toddler
who may need mobility assistance
where everyone will meet outside
what happens if only one adult is home
how you would leave from bedrooms at night
Your first priority during a house fire is getting people out safely.
Once outside, stay outside and call 9-1-1 from a safe location.
Check your smoke alarms
Test smoke alarms every month and follow the manufacturer's instructions for maintenance and battery replacement.
Smoke alarms should also be replaced when they reach the end of their recommended service life.
What about fire extinguishers?
A fire extinguisher can be useful for a small, contained fire when an adult knows how to use it safely and still has a clear escape route.
It should never delay evacuation.
If a fire is spreading, smoke is building or you are unsure whether it is safe to remain inside, get everyone out.
Your family escape plan matters more than saving belongings.
Step 5: Know Your Home's Important Safety Information
Adults and appropriate caregivers should know where important household equipment is located.
That may include:
the electrical panel
main water shut-off
gas controls, if applicable
fire extinguisher
first aid supplies
flashlights
emergency kit
Follow instructions from local authorities or your utility provider before shutting off utilities during an emergency.
Also make sure your home address is clearly written on your emergency information sheet.
This can be surprisingly important when a babysitter, grandparent or older child needs to call 9-1-1.
If your home is difficult to locate, include relevant information such as a unit number, gate code, rural directions or a nearby landmark.
Step 6: Plan for Medical, Medication and Accessibility Needs
Every household emergency plan should reflect the people actually living in the home.
Consider whether anyone relies on:
prescription medications
epinephrine
inhalers
mobility equipment
hearing aids
glasses or contact lenses
feeding equipment
refrigerated medication
powered medical devices
communication supports
specialized dietary needs
Keep an up-to-date list of important medical information, medications and dosages where caregivers can access it.
If someone relies on powered or specialized medical equipment, speak with the appropriate healthcare professional or equipment provider about backup planning.
Do not forget the people outside your immediate household who may need additional help.
A nearby grandparent, relative or neighbour may need someone to check in, help them evacuate or bring essential equipment.
Step 7: Build an Emergency Kit
Your emergency plan tells your family what to do.
Your emergency kit provides some of the things you may need while doing it.
Canadian emergency-preparedness guidance recommends being ready to manage for at least 72 hours if basic services are disrupted.
Your kit should be:
easy to find
portable enough to take with you
known to the adults and older children in your household
adapted to your family's specific needs
Families with babies and young children may need additional feeding, diapering, clothing and comfort supplies.
Pets, medications and medical equipment also require additional planning.
Rather than duplicating the entire checklist here, use our Family Emergency Kit Checklist: Age-Based Additions for Babies, Kids & Pets to build the supplies that fit your household.
Step 8: Keep Important Information Accessible
An emergency is not a great time to search through filing cabinets or try to remember an insurance number.
Consider keeping copies of important information together in a protected, accessible location.
Depending on your household, that may include:
identification information
health-card information
insurance information
emergency contacts
medication lists
healthcare information
school or daycare information
pet records
your written family emergency plan
Keep sensitive information secure.
Digital copies may also be useful when stored using a secure method that you can access away from home.
The goal is not to carry every original document around.
It is to make sure the important information you may need is not available in only one place.
Step 9: Include Babies, Children and Caregivers in the Plan
Children can be part of emergency preparedness without being frightened by it.
Keep explanations simple and age-appropriate.
You might say:
"Families practise what to do in emergencies so everyone knows where to go and who can help."
For young children, focus on just a few things:
recognizing the sound of your smoke alarm
knowing the family meeting place
knowing their full name
identifying trusted adults
following a caregiver during an evacuation
As children get older, they can gradually learn:
their address
an important phone number
when to call 9-1-1
what information to give the dispatcher
your communication plan
where emergency supplies are kept
Practise calling 9-1-1 through pretend play rather than placing an actual practice call.
Older children and teens can take on additional responsibilities based on their maturity and abilities.
Give caregivers a simplified version
Anyone caring for your child should be able to quickly find:
your home address
parent or guardian phone numbers
an alternate emergency contact
allergy and medical information
prescribed emergency medications
the location of first aid supplies
your family meeting place
instructions for contacting emergency services
A one-page emergency sheet on the refrigerator can be far more useful than information stored somewhere a caregiver does not know to look.
Step 10: Plan for Your Pets
Pets need to be included before an evacuation happens.
Your plan should identify:
who is responsible for helping each pet
where leashes, harnesses or carriers are kept
where pet medications and records are stored
where your pet could stay if you had to leave home
a trusted person who could help if you were away
Keep your pet's identification information current.
It is also worth finding out ahead of time what emergency accommodation options in your area may accept animals.
Step 11: Practise the Plan
Writing the plan is step one.
Practising it is what makes the information familiar.
You do not need to stage frightening or elaborate emergency simulations.
Keep it simple.
Walk to your outdoor meeting place.
Let your child show you which door they would use.
Ask an older child:
"If you couldn't reach me, who would you contact next?"
Show a babysitter where the emergency information sheet and first aid supplies are.
Practise your home fire escape plan as a family.
Small repetitions make the plan easier to remember.
Step 12: Review Your Plan Regularly
A family emergency plan is not something you make once and forget.
Update it when:
you move
phone numbers change
your child starts a new school or daycare
caregivers change
a new baby joins the family
someone develops a new medical need
medications change
your child's abilities change
you move emergency supplies
your household adds a pet
local risks or emergency procedures change
A practical habit is to review your plan and emergency supplies in the spring and fall.
It does not need to become a major project.
Ten minutes is often enough to notice an expired medication, update a phone number or remind your family where to meet.
A Quick Family Emergency Plan Checklist
Before you consider your plan finished, make sure your household knows:
✔ Our home address
✔ Who to call in an emergency
✔ Our nearby meeting place
✔ Our meeting place outside the neighbourhood
✔ Who can pick up our children if we cannot
✔ How we will communicate if we become separated
✔ Where our emergency kit is
✔ Where our first aid supplies are
✔ How to safely leave our home
✔ Who needs medication, equipment or additional assistance
✔ What we will do with our pets
✔ Where important information is stored
If several of those answers are still "I'm not sure," that is completely okay.
You now know what to work on next.
You Do Not Have to Prepare for Everything Today
Emergency preparedness can become overwhelming very quickly when we treat it like one enormous project.
So don't.
Start with one thing.
Choose your meeting place.
Write down your address and emergency contacts.
Check your smoke alarms.
Ask daycare who is currently authorized for pickup.
Put your medications on your emergency information sheet.
Then do another small piece next week.
Preparedness is not about anticipating every possible emergency or eliminating every risk.
It is about reducing the number of decisions your family would have to make under pressure.
A clear plan, a little practice and the right information in the right place can make a stressful situation easier to navigate.
That is what being prepared is really about.
You’ve got this!
Continue Learning
Continue building your family’s safety toolkit with these trusted resources from Bump + Baby Matters.
Infant & Child CPR + Choking Classes
Family Emergency Kit Checklist: Age-Based Additions for Babies, Kids & Pets
How to Talk to Kids About CPR and 911 (By Age): Building Confidence Without Fear
Button Battery Safety: What Every Parent and Caregiver Should Know
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