Critical Infrastructure (CI) consists of the essential pieces, systems, and networks that keep our communities healthy, safe, and running smoothly. Because many local services and systems are owned and operated by private businesses rather than the government, emergency managers and local leaders must work closely with outside partners.

This 8-hour course provides straightforward, practical strategies to help you point out your community’s most important assets, see how they connect, and work together with local CI partners and organizations to manage disruptions. You will learn how to use regular communication tools and various media channels (social media and traditional media) to build proactive and constructive partnerships with CI providers.

Core Learning Objectives:

Community Action Planning: Find the main gaps in your current plans and create a practical roadmap to fix them.How to emphasize respectful partnerships, community-led decision-making, culturally appropriate support, and collaborative planning with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities.

Spotting CI: Learn how to pick out and rank the most important CI in your community.

Understanding Connections between CI: See how a failure in one area (like power) can cause a chain reaction in other areas (like water or communications).

Working with Partners: Build simple, reliable ways to communicate and coordinate with CI partners and organizations.

Protecting CI: Plan ahead to protect critical infrastructure in your community.

Hands-On Practice: Walk through a realistic, multi-CI sector community incident with peer coordinators to test out your decision-making to protect local CI.

Course Leader: SHAWN COWLEY

Shawn Cowley is an accomplished business continuity and crisis management professional with over 16 years of progressive leadership experience spanning the private and public sectors. Currently serving as Director of Business Resiliency at Get Ready Global, he leverages his deep expertise in business resiliency and crisis management to advise leadership and operational teams across diverse industries on enterprise risk, industry leading practices, regulatory alignment, and tailored, real-world recovery solutions. Throughout his career—including senior roles at TELUS Communications, Southwestern Public Health, Cogeco, and Rogers—Shawn has directed and modernized enterprise-wide business continuity, incident management, and operational resilience programs.

A trusted advisor in high-stakes environments, Shawn has led and co-led more than 30 critical crisis response activations—including major natural disasters, cybersecurity incidents, data breaches, and the enterprise-wide response to COVID-19—while proactively coordinating with industry partners and government agencies across municipal, provincial, and federal levels. In addition to leading post-incident reviews and governance restructuring, he has designed, led, and co-led over 100 enterprise exercises ranging from cyber and natural disaster scenarios to executive tabletops. Shawn holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management from Sheridan College, a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo, and multiple industry credentials, complemented by extensive board and committee service across leading resiliency associations.