What is Continuity Management?
Continuity management enables an organization to effectively respond to and recover from unexpected disruptions arising from natural, technological, or human-caused hazards. Its primary goal is to ensure that critical functions and services can continue with minimal impact, safeguarding people, assets, and operations. By identifying risks, creating recovery strategies, and testing plans, continuity planning helps organizations adapt to unforeseen challenges.
The Continuity Management program, through integration with Enterprise Risk Management and Emergency Management processes, supports the University’s ability to fulfill its mission through continued achievement of institutional goals, in the face of increasingly frequent and severe disruptions. By minimizing operational downtime, protecting resources, and enabling a swift recovery, this approach to planning drives institutional resilience and helps strengthen the Mount Royal community as a whole.
The Continuity Planning Cycle
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1. Impact Analysis Develop an inventory of departmental processes and identify critical functions, resource requirements, and internal and external dependencies. Impact Analysis Template - coming soon |
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2. Risk Assessment Identify potential threats*. |
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3. Continuity Plan Development Create strategies and action plans to maintain or restore critical functions, allocate resources, and establish communication protocols during a disruption. Continuity Plan Template - coming soon |
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4. Implementation Put the plan into action by assigning roles, conducting training, and ensuring that all stakeholders understand their responsibilities. |
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5. Testing and Maintenance Regularly test and update the plan through drills, simulations, and reviews to address emerging risks and ensure its effectiveness over time. |
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*The University has an established Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program that enables risk identification, analysis, and assessment at the departmental/faculty level. Your department's ERM Risk Register* is a valuable starting point when assessing potential disruptions to your critical functions. Contact Risk Management at riskmanagement@mtroyal.ca if you are unsure if your department has an existing ERM Risk Register. |
Contact Kim Cousineau, Business Continuity and Emergency Management Advisor at kcousineau@mtroyal.ca for continuity planning support.