The Ontario Government funded Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) to deliver an Auxiliary Communications (Aux-Comm) course aimed at improving interoperability among Amateur-Radio operators, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Emergency Management services during planned events and incidents. Aux-Comm radio volunteers support communications with other organizations in cases where local services have failed, at emergency incidents/planned events/training exercises, and within the emergency management structure.

This Aux-Comm training is being rolled out by RAC as part of a provincial initiative to build community emergency response teams in highly populated areas to serve the needs of their local communities, but also to be dispatched to deal with emergencies and disasters in more remote parts of the province, especially in Northern Ontario. Starting in December 2024, the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club (OARC) negotiated with RAC to ensure our members would have access to this training.

This highly engaging course covered emergency management, organizational structures, roles, and responsibilities and how these roles work together, before, during and after an emergency. Over the two days, we split up into teams and workshopped five emergency scenarios where students had to collaborate to determine the number of volunteers required, their locations, the radio equipment that they would require, including frequency and tone selection for the VHF and UHF radios segmented by task so that multiple nets could operate simultaneously. Each scenario was time bound and, at the end of one hour, each team had to choose a presenter and present their solution back to the rest of the group; what they did and why, with questions and comments to follow.

We graduated 17 Aux-Comm radio volunteers. In addition, as a result of the OARC’s participation in the course, we will be receiving an Aux-Comm radio go kit for this team, which we can use during our practice exercises in the community. And we’re also responsible for storing the go kit and testing it monthly to ensure it is always ready to go.

The OARC’s involvement in Aux-Comm training is a deliverable under the Education goal of our Strategic Plan, as was the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) course we delivered in-house in May 2025. Amateur-radio communications support during an emergency is an important contribution to our communities. We hope that more of our members will get involved as Aux-Comm radio volunteers over time. We will provide updates in future articles about our activities. See below for a photo gallery from the RAC Aux-Comm course.

Repeater upgrade to support the unique needs of Aux-Comm

Related to emergency Amateur-Radio communications, we also recently initiated a major capital project to upgrade our VE2CRA repeater system and our plan factors in the unique needs of Aux-Comm, such as the need to be able to split or combine repeater systems across the city, depending on the circumstances, and also to support digital modes.

Aux-Comm and our partnership with West Carleton Disaster Relief

Another expression of the Club’s commitment to supporting emergency Amateur-Radio communications is our partnership with West Carleton Disaster Relief (WCDR). You may recall that we did a proof-of-concept demonstration on World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2025 ,where we set up radio systems in three different communities within West Carleton and used the VE2CRA repeater to tie us all together.

The Club is also supporting WCDR in their meetings with the City Of Ottawa, Emergency and Protective Services (EPS), which is the organization responsible for the Municipal Emergency Plan and for mobilizing an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in the event of an incident. The EOC is where City staff and external partners coordinate resources, communications, and other response and recovery activities.

The City, like all municipalities, recommends residents have an emergency plan in place to ensure self-sufficiency for at least 72 hours (3 days) during an emergency because essential services like power, water, and transportation can be interrupted for an extended period. Being self-sufficient for the first 72 hours also allows emergency responders to focus on critical needs and those most in need.

Through the MOU we have with WCDR, the Club is training Amateur-Radio operators in West Carleton to help their community be more self-sufficient and resilient during the first 72 hours.

In a proposed pilot project, WCDR will work with the City to develop tabletop scenarios for different types of emergencies and in different communities across West Carleton. Amateur-Radio operators with Aux-Comm training in West Carleton will be a part of this and will go out to each of these communities to conduct live field exercises to develop and refine plans. By conducting regular exercises, WCDR and Amateur-Radio operators in the region will benefit from getting to know each other better, getting to know how to work together as a team and how best to use available equipment.

RAC Aux-Comm course – Photos courtesy of Stuart, VE3SMF