Emergency Government Headquarters - Shelters - Locations

Locations

The largest "Diefenbunker" was located at CFS Carp in the village of Carp west of Ottawa, within the National Capital Region. In the event of a nuclear event, it was expected to shelter many of the most important federal civil servants and politicians and senior military officials. This location was the second chosen. The original location was approximately six miles west of Almonte. That site was abandoned when ground water proved impossible to remove. There have been rumors that a tunnel leading to an alternate exit/entrance of the bunker was dug under the Ottawa River. This entrance was said to be in Aylmer or in Pontiac Quebec. However, this entrance was never discovered.

The six smaller bunkers were designated as Regional Emergency Government Headquarters (REGHQs):

• Nanaimo, British Columbia (Camp Nanaimo) – REGHQ
• Penhold, Alberta (CFB Penhold) – REGHQ
• Shilo, Manitoba (CFB Shilo) – REGHQ
• Borden, Ontario (CFB Borden) – REGHQ
• Valcartier, Quebec (CFB Valcartier) – REGHQ
• Debert, Nova Scotia (CFS Debert) – REGHQ

Communication Bunkers:

• Nanoose Bay, British Columbia (Nanoose Bay Transmitter Station transmitter for CFS Nanaimo)
• Penhold, Alberta (Penhold Transmitter Station transmitter for CFB Penhold)
• Hughes, Manitoba (Camp Hughes Transmitter Station transmitter for CFB Shilo)
• North Bay, Ontario (RCAF Station North Bay, later 22 Wing/Canadian Forces Base North Bay) Canada's NORAD Bunker, backup for NORAD Bunker at Cheyenne Mountain
• Edenvale, Ontario (Edenvale Transmitter Station transmitter for CFB Borden)
• Perth, Ontario (CFS Carp Richardson Detachment) – Transmitter site (T1) for the CEGHQ at CFS Carp
• Great Village, Nova Scotia (Great Village Transmitter Station transmitter for CFS Debert
• Saint Raymond Portneuf, Québec. Transmitter for CFB Valcartier.

Other bunkers in Ontario included Central Relocation Units (CRUs) to supplement the CEGHQ. These were not "true" bunkers for the fact that they were simply reinforced underground rooms located in basement of post offices and other Federal Government installation. They were connected by phone and teletypewriter lines to the main bunker at CFS Carp. They were located in:

• Kemptville
• Carleton Place
• Cornwall
• Smiths Falls
• Pembroke
• Arnprior

Similar sites were chosen to accompany the REGHQs elsewhere in Canada. These would be located in close proximity to the REGHQs. These Regional Relocation Units (RRUs) would be used as a backup to the larger equivalent (for redundancy).

There were also MEGHQs and ZEGHQs in Canada, not supervised by the federal government to help with rescue and reconstruction efforts over time of crisis.