Approved by the Regional Council in June 2023, the Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry (VVPR) is a voluntary, self-referral list intended for Halifax Regional Municipality residents who may require more support during emergency situations.
The VVPR provides important information to first responders and Emergency Management staff and volunteers to help appropriately respond to resident needs in situations such as sustained power outages, severe storms, and more.
Register for the Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry
Registering for the VVPR is voluntary and easy and starts by completing a self-referral intake form. Click below or call 311 to get started. For more information about the VVPR, including eligibility and what to expect, read below.
Who should consider registering?
The Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry (VVPR) is a voluntary, self-referral list intended for residents without 24-hour support who experience severe difficulty with any of the following:
- Mobility
- Vision impairment
- Hearing impairment
- Developmental disabilities
- Cognitive impairment
- Mental health conditions
- Any resident who requires electricity for life-sustaining equipment such as oxygen, dialysis, etc.
The VVPR is not for all residents. For example, those receiving 24-hour support from a caregiver or homecare aide may not be eligible.
Those receiving care or assistance in long-term care or supportive housing facilities may not be eligible, as emergency response personnel are typically already aware of these facilities. Residents under the age of 18 and receiving parent or guardian support would typically not be considered eligible for the VVPR; however, children with intensive needs that require electricity for life-sustaining equipment may be considered.
If you doubt whether the VVPR is right for you, complete a self-referral intake form online or by calling 311, and a member of our Emergency Management team will follow up with you to confirm eligibility and verify personal information.
What can I expect once I’m registered?
After voluntarily completing the self-referral form, the VVPR Coordinator will follow up with the information you have provided to confirm eligibility and verify your personal information.
Once added, individuals who are included in the Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry (VVPR) will receive helpful information or direct contact from Emergency Management staff during emergency events where VVPR is activated and may receive helpful preparatory information in advance of approaching severe storms or other known events.
See the Frequently Asked Questions for further information about what to expect during emergency situations when the VVPR program is activated.
The municipality’s VVPR is powered by hfxAlert, allowing for multiple ways to keep you informed, including text messages, emails and phone calls.
Frequently asked questions
The VVPR is a voluntary self-referral list intended for Halifax Regional Municipality residents who may require more support during emergency situations. The VVPR is managed through the municipality's Division of Emergency Management.
The VVPR provides important information to first responders and Emergency Management staff and volunteers to help appropriately prioritize responses to resident needs in situations like sustained power outages, severe storms, and more.
The VVPR was approved by Regional Council in June 2023. In developing the initiative, Emergency Management engaged with numerous communities and resident feedback on the initiative. In addition, a jurisdictional scan was completed, and Emergency Management staff worked with Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as they have had a VPR in place for many years.
- mobility
- vision impairment
- hearing impairment
- developmental disabilities
- cognitive impairment
- mental health conditions
- any resident who requires electricity for life-sustaining equipment such as oxygen, dialysis, etc.
Those not eligible include (exceptions may apply):
- residents receiving 24-hour support from a caregiver or home care aide.
- residents receiving care or assistance from a long-term care home or supportive housing facility.
- residents under the age of 18 who receive parent/guardian support; however, children with intensive needs that require electricity for life sustaining equipment may be considered eligible.
Applications can be submitted only by individuals seeking to become part of the VVPR, or their representative/legal guardian. All applications will be reviewed by the VVPR Coordinator to confirm eligibility and verify personal information upon submission of the self-referral online application form.
If registering online, a confirmation message will pop up to confirm registration form submission and an email will be sent to the email address submitted for the registrant. The VVPR Coordinator will contact each registrant, or their representative/legal guardian, to confirm eligibility and verify personal information. Primary and secondary emergency contacts listed on the registration form will also be contacted to verify their information and consent.
If registering through a phone call to 311 or Emergency Management staff, an email will be sent to the email address submitted for the registrant, and the process to confirm eligibility and verify personal information will be followed as noted above.
The VVPR Coordinator will contact registrants, or their representative/legal guardian, to confirm eligibility and verify personal information within three days of submission of the registration form. If the application is approved, some of the registrant’s personal information will be made available to authorized local first responders within 45 days of receipt of the application, and registrants will be notified of the date on which their information will be made available to those authorized first responders.
Ineligible applications to the VVPR will not be approved. In those cases, the registrant’s personal information will not be added to the VVPR and they, or their representative/legal guardian, will receive an email indicating this.
VVPR registrants still need to call 9-1-1 if they are experiencing an emergency. They are also responsible for having an emergency plan in place in order to be prepared to remain safe for at least three days. VVPR registration does not guarantee registrant safety but is an added safeguard where local emergency service groups will make every effort to increase the possibility of a VVPR registrant’s safety during emergencies.
Emergency preparedness information can be found here: https://www.halifax.ca/fire-police/fire/emergency-management/emergency-preparedness
In what situations will the VVPR program be activated by Emergency Management?
The VVPR program will be activated for the following:
Hazard Notifications
- Extreme weather events or other hazards posing moderate risk to community.
- Extreme weather events or other hazards posing moderate risk to Critical Infrastructure.
- Extreme weather events or other hazards where communicating preparedness recommendations to the public is necessary.
- Extreme weather-related events or other hazards where sheltering in place instructions are being recommended due to risk of compromised road infrastructure.
- Extreme weather-related events or other hazards where a voluntary evacuation has been issued and temporary lodging has been made available.
Evacuation Alerts
- Extreme weather events or other hazards posing extreme risk to community where a potential for evacuation order is significant.
Evacuation Orders
- Extreme weather events or other hazards that pose an imminent risk to community and life safety that trigger instruction for mandatory evacuation orders.
Evacuation Rescinds
- When the imminent risk has been nullified and residents are able to return to their communities.
When the VVPR program is activated during an event as noted above, responses to VVPR registrants will be prioritized according to the personal information submitted on the application form (e.g., vulnerabilities during emergencies relating to mobility, vision or hearing impairment, need for electricity for life-sustaining equipment, etc. - as listed above in the eligibility criteria).
If an event noted above occurs or is foreseen:
- A warning will be sent through hfxALERT to registrants, their representative/legal guardian and primary/secondary emergency contacts via all methods of contact, if possible (telephone, text, email).
- Emergency Management staff will conduct phone calls if needed, or attempt door-to-door contact through Emergency Management volunteers.
After such an event:
- Check-in communications through hfxALERT will be sent to the registrant, their representative/legal guardian, and primary/secondary emergency contacts via all methods of contact, if possible (telephone, text, email).
- Prioritization checks will be conducted based on personal information included in the registration form, with door-to-door contact, as necessary.
For example, in the case of an impending hurricane, hfxALERT communications will be sent, telephone and/or door-to-door checks may be made, and if a registrant relies on life sustaining equipment that requires electricity, they would be prioritized for available support.
At minimum, biannual check-ins/validation of registration information will be conducted by the VVPR Coordinator.
Registrants understand that if they are eligible to be added to the VVPR, the VVPR Coordinator will also register them in the hfxALERT system so that they will receive VVPR emergency alerts as needed. If a registrant has a representative/legal guardian, they will also be registered in the hfxALERT system. These alerts will be sent to registrants, and/or their representative/legal guardian, via all means of communication that have been provided on the registration form, including primary/secondary phone #s (telephone call and/or text) and email address.
If a registrant has included contact information for a primary/secondary emergency contact in the application form (which is highly recommended), these individuals will also be contacted to confirm this role and to obtain their consent for the VVPR Coordinator to register them in the hfxALERT system so that they will receive the VVPR emergency alerts on behalf of the registrant.
For more information on hfxALERT visit halifax.ca/hfxalert.
In accordance with Section 485 of the Municipal Government Act, any personal information collected on the VVPR registration form will be used only by municipal staff and, if necessary, individuals and/or organizations under service contract with the Halifax Regional Municipality for purposes relating to executing the Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry program.
Questions about the collection and use of this personal information should be directed to the Access and Privacy Office at 902.943.2148 or privacy@halifax.ca.
Each VVPR registrant, or their representative/legal guardian, agrees to allow the Halifax Regional Municipality to provide some of the information in the VVPR registration form to local first responders for use during emergencies. Some of the information on the registration form may also be shared with Emergency Management volunteers and service providers for those registrants who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment such as oxygen. Registrants, representatives/legal guardians, and primary/secondary emergency contacts will all be contacted by the VVPR Coordinator to confirm consent and to verify contact information.
The VVPR registration form is the tool used to collect contact and other personal information for a registrant, or their representative/legal guardian, as well as primary/secondary emergency contacts. Each registrant of the VVPR, or their representative/legal guardian, is responsible to ensure that personal information is always up to date. Registrants, or their representative/legal guardian, can contact the VVPR Coordinator at any time to provide updates to the information provided in the registration form, by e-mail: HRM_EMO@halifax.ca or telephone: 902.490.4968.
At a minimum, updates to the information in the VVPR will be conducted by the VVPR Coordinator every six months. The VVPR Coordinator will make every effort over a two-month period to complete an update; however, if unsuccessful, the VVPR Coordinator can remove a registrant from the VVPR and notify them accordingly. A registrant, or their representative/legal guardian, can request that the registrant be removed from the VVPR at any time.
If a user has trouble using the self-referral web form at halifax.ca/vvpr or would like an alternative way to complete the web form please call 311.