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

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press

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.

A legislative committee heard today how the organization, launched in March 2024, has been put to the test twice in the past year when first responders were called to deal with particularly difficult emergencies.

The first call came in May of last year 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 Department of Emergency Management says Nova Scotia Guard members did not help with the search for the siblings because their main role is only to provide organized support for first responders and community members.

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

In August, guard members headed to the Long Lake area in Annapolis County, where a wildfire 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,” said Meredith Cowan, the department’s executive director of planning and preparedness.

“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.”

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