Canada providing funds to Israeli institutions to improve earthquake warning system

A graphic demonstrates how the Canadian Earthquake Early Warning system works. (NRCan)

Canada is turning to Israel for help upgrading its emergency response infrastructure.

On Tuesday, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson revealed the federal government is providing funding to Tel Aviv University, with the goal of improving Canada’s Earthquake Early Warning systems.

“We are pleased to bring Tel Aviv University's world-leading expertise to Canada, helping us gain access to the earliest, most accurate alerts for earthquakes and tsunamis,” Wilkinson said in a NRCan statement, which does not detail how much funding is being provided.

On Wednesday, NRCan told CTV News that the federal government is providing $1,000,000 for the initiative, which is expected to cost a total of $1,048,000. 

SeismicAI, an Israeli high-tech company, collaborated with Tel Aviv University to develop an EEW system that’s been utilized around the world.

Canada began installing the first of hundreds of sensors comprising the nation’s EEW system back in March, with the goal of having it fully online by 2024.

“Of all the earthquake mitigation actions that may be considered for Canada, the array-based earthquake early warning is the most practical and most cost-effective one,” Tel Aviv University professor Alon Ziv said in a statement Tuesday.

SeismicAI’s CEO echoed those sentiments, adding that he’s excited to be collaborating with the university and NRCan on the initiative.

“Using this innovative alert technology, people in areas covered by EEW systems in Canada will gain access to the earliest, most accurate alerts for earthquakes and tsunamis," Benny Sasson said in a statement.

The funding boost from Canada is aimed at supporting the development of software that will address limitations facing the nation’s coastal and border regions, where the government says it can be challenging to deploy traditional EEW sensor station grids.

Federal data shows there are approximately 5,000 earthquakes across Canada each year, most commonly along B.C.’s Pacific Coast and in the Yukon Territory.