A Reception Centre (RC) is the location designated by a local authority ESS team as a safe gathering place for people displaced from their homes as a result of an emergency or disaster. At a Reception Centre, you can register and receive Emergency Social Services (food, clothing, and/or lodging), as well as information about the emergency situation.

Source: Reception Centre Operational Guidelines (Province of BC) 

During an emergency response, the ESS Plan is activated under the direction of the local ESS Director (ESSD), Emergency Program Coordinator (EPC), or designate. Whether or not a RC will be opened depends on many factors including the size of the emergency, the number of evacuees, availability of facilities, and the availability of trained ESS responders. 

A RC is usually activated during a moderately-sized event, or at an ESS Level 2 response. The number of evacuees generally exceed 12 and the event typically involves multiple dwellings (e.g., neighbourhood or apartment block). 

Source: Justice Institue of BC - EMRG 1610 Introduction to Reception Centres 

Comfort Centre 
As a result of extreme weather events, members of the public are often finding themselves without power, sometimes for extended periods, or otherwise affected by the climate. While these events fall outside of traditional ESS response activities, and such events do not warrant the activation of a reception centre, there may be a need to open a Comfort Centre facility whereby citizens can find respite from adverse weather conditions. Services provided may include shelter from weather, nourishment, companionship or information. When the RDN activates an Extreme Weather Centre, the location(s), opening times and services will be listed here. 

Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) 
The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is the focal point for the community’s overall management of the disaster. Coordination and direction for the entire community response is provided by senior representatives from each of the key agencies involved in the response and may include law enforcement, fire and rescue, ambulance, engineering, utilities, ESS, health, public works, Office of the City Manager, or the Chief Administrative Officer. Information from the RC is important to the EOC group. It will inform them as to the needs of evacuees and the assistance the RC has provided to the people who have experienced the disaster. 

Group Lodging 
A Group Lodging facility provides emergency shelter-style accommodations for persons affected by the disaster, either evacuees or emergency responders. It could be co-located with the RC or at a separate location. 

Volunteer Services Centre 
When a disaster happens in a community, many people will simply walk in or phone the RC to help. The ESS team can set up a Volunteer Services area within the RC or they can set up a separate Volunteer Services Centre facility designated strictly to manage walk-in disaster volunteers. 

In 2002, a discussion paper was sent to ESS Directors, ESS Support Organizations, Ministry of Human Resources staff and Provincial Emergency Program (PEP) staff introducing the concept of organizing ESS response under the Incident Command System (ICS) model.

The paper outlined the pros and cons of changing the ESS response model to conform to the British Columbia Emergency Response Management System (BCERMS), which is based on the ICS.

Ninety-four percent of the respondents to the discussion paper were in favor of adapting BCERMS for ESS planning and response. As a result, a provincial working group was formed to develop and recommend to the ESS Office a basic BCERMS based organization and management framework, which would be available to all local authorities for ESS planning and response purposes. The ESS Program Office reviewed the recommendations made by the working group, made some minor modifications, and finalized the model. 

At the 2003 Emergency Preparedness Conference in Vancouver, the ESS Program Office announced the formal adoption of BCERMS as the preferred model for providing ESS in BC. The ESS Program Office also committed to the development and distribution of Operational Guidelines for both an ESS Reception Centre response and an ESS Group Lodging response. 

Source: Reception Centre Operational Guidelines (Province of BC) 

BCERMS is a comprehensive management system that ensures a coordinated and organized response and recovery to all emergency incidents.

It is based on the five primary management functions of the Incident Command System:  

• Management incl. safety, information, liaison 
• Operations 
• Planning 
• Logistics
• Finance

This structure is used at the site level as well as at the three levels of support and coordination.

BCERMS response levels are

• Provincial Emergency Coordination Centre (PECC) -Provincial Central Coordination Level
• Provincial Regional Emergency Operations Centre (PREOC) - Provincial Regional Coordination Level 
• Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) - Site Support (Municipal/Regional District) Level
• ESS Reception Centre (RC) - stie level 

Source: Reception Centre Operational Guidelines (Province of BC)