City of St. Albert Emergency Management Manager Mark Pickford has won a national award for helping his community prepare for disaster.

Pickford was recently honoured by the 2025 International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Canada Council. He received the 2025 IAEM Canada Council Merit Award for Excellence, Leadership, and Innovation on Aug. 19 following a brief ceremony at Fire Hall 1. Pickford has led St. Albert’s emergency response department since 2022.

He received a special glass and wood trophy for his outstanding work in improving emergency management in Canada. Only up to two of these awards are given each year, and this was the third award his department earned in 2024.

Pickford is a longtime resident of St. Albert and has spent decades managing emergencies through his work with the Canadian military and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency. He assisted during major crises such as the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and the 2013 Calgary floods. Using that experience, he created tools and training to make St. Albert safer. Pickford’s team built a Rapid Damage Assessment app to quickly determine what homes or buildings were lost in a disaster.

He also leads training exercises, such as last year’s large-scale active shooter drill, and introduced the Everbridge 360 system so officials can contact all city staff at once. Pickford launched Alberta’s first “Know Your Zone” website, showing residents if their area is under evacuation orders. He says real events, such as the 2023 train derailment and hosting hundreds of wildfire evacuees, gave city crews valuable practice. Pickford stresses that families should always have a 72-hour emergency kit ready, because being prepared makes the whole community stronger. More information about disaster preparation can be found at the City of St. Albert’s website.

Source: Kevin Ma, St. Albert Gazette