Business Continuity Planning

Business Continuity

Business Continuity is a professional methodology that safeguards Critical Services by creating and maintaining Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).  Business Continuity Plans contain the recovery procedures and strategies necessary to resume Critical Services and are activated when standard operational procedures and responses are overwhelmed by a disruptive event. 

While the District focuses on event containment and response, Business Continuity focuses on the resumption of Critical Services until a return to normal business operations is possible.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

BCPs are critical in helping you to manage your livelihood post disaster and having a continuity plan in place before will allow you to respond and not react.

A BCP includes items such as back-up record management, image and reputation management, staff education, ensuring staff are prepared at home so they are able to continue working, resource management, transport of goods and more! The first 72 hours after a disaster are critical in getting your business back up and running. Disasters in other communities have shown that 7 days after a major emergency the costs of getting a business back up and running increases exponentially and those businesses without a continuity plan struggle to return to their normal levels of operation post disaster, with many often failing as a result.

What should a BCP include?

A BCP includes:

• Plans, measures and arrangements to ensure the continuous delivery of critical services and products, which permits the organization to recover its facility, data and assets.
• Identification of necessary resources to support business continuity, including personnel, information, equipment, financial allocations, legal counsel, infrastructure protection and accommodations.

Having a BCP enhances an organization's image with employees, shareholders and customers by demonstrating a proactive attitude. Additional benefits include improvement in overall organizational efficiency and identifying the relationship of assets and human and financial resources to critical services and deliverables.

BCP Template

As part of the District’s review of their emergency program, a BCP template was developed to assist the municipality and small and medium-sized businesses plan for the continuity and resumption of business operations following a disruption or emergency enabling their employees to respond quickly to hazards and situations that could disrupt business, cause an evacuation, or temporary relocation. The information in the BCP would then help those organizations make decisions to ensure they can get back to work as fast as possible and limit the negative impact of a business disruption or an emergency.

Other Resources

Below are some links and information to assist you in keeping your business up and running after a disaster.

• www.epicc.org (Emergency Preparedness for Industry and Commerce Council)
• www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/bcp-eng.php (Pandemic Business Continuity Templates)
• http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/embc/flooding/bc-floodpreparednessbusiness.pdf (Preparing Your Business for a Flood)
• http://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/pdfs/bcont_e.pdf  (A Guide to Business Continuity Planning)
• http://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/pdfs/brp.pdf (Business Resumption Planning Development Guide)