RC118 MayJune 2025 - Magazine - Page 26
RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE
The importance of preparing for extreme weather, driven by
irreversible climate change, cannot be overstated.
FALSE STARTS
Municipalities—many of which still address flood
and wildfire risk through “reaction” rather than
“pro-action”—must embrace adaptation
by Dr. Blair Feltmate
VER THE PAST DECADE, Environment and Climate
Change Canada (ECCC) released three strategic
reports, each sharing a common theme—the need
for municipalities to prepare for the increasing
threats of Canada’s two most costly climate perils,
昀氀ooding and wild昀椀re.
The 昀椀rst of these ECCC reports, released in 2016—The
Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate
Change—devoted a full chapter to adaptation that highlighted actions communities can take to limit 昀氀ood and wild昀椀re
risk. Following its release, the report largely sat on a shelf.
Next, in 2018, ECCC released a detailed adaptation
guideline, Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation and
Resilience Results. This document, which also emphasized
community resiliency, was 1.5 years in the making, drawing
on input from 22 subject matter experts. Unfortunately, it
too followed the fate of the Pan-Canadian framework.
The third ECCC report, National Adaptation Strategy
(NAS), was released in 2023. The NAS was more prescriptive on 昀氀ood and wild昀椀re protection than its predecessors,
including this target: “By 2030, 80 per cent of public and
municipal organizations have factored climate change adaptation into their decision-making processes.”
For two reasons, faith in meeting this new NAS target
may be justi昀椀ed, despite the track record to date.
First, the NAS calls for an “all-hands-on-deck” commitment to mobilize adaptation, sharing accountability across
multiple stakeholders—this includes federal, provincial,
territorial and municipal governments, NGOs such as the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as well as the capital
markets, academe, Indigenous peoples and individual
homeowners.
Second, over the past few years, new guidance (developed with support from the Standards Council of Canada,
O
Dr. Blair Feltmate is the
Head of the Intact Centre
on Climate Adaptation,
University of Waterloo.
26
RENEW CANADA – MAY/JUNE 2025
National Research Council, and
Canadian Standards Association) has beome available that
identi昀椀es, in easy-to-follow format, practical and cost-e昀昀ective
means to protect municipalities
from 昀氀ooding and wild昀椀re.
The importance of preparing
for extreme weather, driven
by irreversible climate change,
cannot be overstated. For example, from 1983-2008, insurable
claims for catastrophic events
in Canada hovered between
$250-450 million annually. From
2009 onwards, insurable losses
increased substantially to a
record breaking $8.5 billion in
2024 (graph on page 27). This recent loss was due, in part, to
昀氀ooding in Toronto and multiple towns in southern Ontario
($940 million), 昀氀oods impacting communities throughout
Quebec ($2.5 billion), and wild昀椀re in Jasper ($900 million).
Mayors, councilors and city managers need consolidated
guidance to help bend down the catastrophic loss curve—
fortunately, practical solutions are in hand.
Municipal flood protection
It is important to recognize that 昀氀ood “protection” does
not mean “prevention”. Under extreme conditions any
community can 昀氀ood. However, through preparedness, the
probability and magnitude of 昀氀ooding can be reduced –
communities are not victims of circumstance.
The infographic—Three Levels of a Flood Ready Community [see Figure 1]—pro昀椀les 15 actions to limit 昀氀ood risk
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