Report finds most Canadian organizations unprepared for major crises

A new report from Samsara warns that Canadian organizations are far less prepared for disasters than they believe, leaving frontline workers and billions of dollars in operations at risk.

The company’s State of Connected Operations Report—Plan, Act, Recover: Disaster Preparedness in Physical Operations found that while 40 per cent of Canadian organizations consider themselves “fully prepared” for major crises, the highest rate globally, but only one per cent in high-risk regions have an active disaster plan in place.

The study, based on responses from 1,550 emergency management professionals across 21 industries in seven countries, identified significant gaps in preparedness, planning and communication during such crisis as natural disasters to supply chain breakdowns, civil unrest and security threats. In Canada, 76 per cent of respondents said they lack consistent access to live operational data, and 94 per cent are concerned about losing communications during a crisis, both the highest rates among countries surveyed.

“Canada’s biggest risk isn’t a lack of awareness—it’s the operational blind spots that appear when smoke, storms, or outages hit,” said Liz Klein, director of Samsara, Canada. “Closing those gaps means real-time visibility, multiple lines of communication, and trained frontline teams so organizations can keep people safe and services running during times of crises.”

The report comes as Canada faces growing threats from wildfires, floods and cyberattacks, which have repeatedly disrupted critical infrastructure and public services.

Samsara says investing in connected technologies, proactive planning and frontline training can help Canadian businesses recover faster and reduce losses during disruptive events.