July 16, 2010

Canada's Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, met this week to advance a strategic dialogue on developing a shared vision for border security for Canada and the United States.

As part of that dialogue, Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews announced a first-ever plan to establish a comprehensive cross-border approach to critical infrastructure resilience-focused on the need for a strong partnership to share information and assess and manage risks to enhance both nations' ability to prepare for and respond to disasters.

Recognizing the importance of critical infrastructure, both Canada and the United States have developed strategies (e.g. Canada's National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure and the U.S. National Infrastructure Protection Plan) to enhance resiliency in their respective countries.

The Canada-United States Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure will support implementation of these strategies in Canada and the United States and will enable both countries to more effectively address a range of cross border critical infrastructure issues.

The plan is available at www.dhs.gov and www.publicsafety.gc.ca.