If there is one resoundingly positive lesson learned from Covid-19, it’s the power people have to adapt when our lives are on the line.
Now imagine that same resolve to fight climate change like our lives depend on it. That’s exactly what’s taking place at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation (ICCA).
ICCA is a nationally focused applied research centre in the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. Its mission — helping Canadians reduce the risks of climate change and extreme weather events. This year marks the centre’s fifth anniversary, with continuous support from founding sponsor Intact Financial Corporation.
“While climate change is irreversible, climate change adaptation has a very strong return on investment,” says Intact Centre Head, Blair Feltmate. “What the Intact Centre has done over the last five years has materially led Canadians to more fully embrace climate change adaptation. We are heading in the right direction, but we need to keep speeding up.”
Four key areas are being targeted for on-the-ground research and practical solutions:
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Floods
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Fire
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Extreme heat
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Institutional investment decision makers
Floods
Flooding is Canada’s costliest natural disaster. The average cost of cleaning up after a basement flood is $43,000. The Insurance Bureau of Canada notes that nearly 20 per cent of Canada’s population is at risk of flooding.
A two-year study by the Intact Centre gave Canada a grade of C on flood preparedness. In concert with this research, the Centre developed the Home Flood Protection Program (HFPP), which provides homeowners with practical information to identify and limit their risk of basement flooding. Ten key actions were identified and many can be completed by residents in less than one day, for under $250.
“To do something as easy and cost effective as putting plastic covers over window wells over for a few hundred dollars is certainly worth the effort to protect your home – one of the most important investments in your life,” Feltmate says.
As part of the HFPP, the Intact Centre developed a home flood risk assessment tool and more than 500 Home Flood Protection Assessments were completed, as a result.
The Intact Centre ialso provides practical education and training to members of associations who directly speak with homeowners regularly. Some key groups receiving this training are:
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110,000 members of the Canadian Real Estate Association
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38,000 insurance brokers across Canada
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12,0000 mortgage/lending specialists
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5,400 home appraisers
“Think of the impact when a real estate agent sits across the table from people in their homes and shows them exactly what they can do to reduce their risk of a flood,” says Feltmate.
Fire
Fires are a growing threat to Canadians in highly forested communities.
Just a few years ago a wildfire near Fort McMurray, AB, forced the evacuation of 88,000 people and destroyed 2,400 homes and buildings, with damage costing $9.9 billion. Beyond that the full financial, physical and emotional toll is immeasurable.
The Intact Centre is fighting fire with applied solutions. By forming partnerships with the Canadian Home Builders Association and Fire Smart Canada, the Intact Centre is providing hands-on education and training to reduce the risks.
“Fire Smart has developed fire mitigation best practices for homes and communities. Working together with the Intact Centre, we are implementing training programs for the Canadian Home Builder’s Association, so that right from the start, construction is done in a way to reduce fire risk,” Feltmate explains.
Extreme Heat
This past summer heat waves burned across Canada.
Sadly, in July 2019, when extreme heat engulfed Montreal, public-health officials recorded almost 6,000 ambulance calls and 66 heat-related deaths.
“This trend will continue and heat waves will get a lot hotter,” says Feltmate. “That’s why the Intact Centre is developing heat guidelines and standards for the country that will focus, at the community level, on what we can do to adapt and limit the risks.”
Feltmate reveals that taking grass-root action, such as painting roofs white to reflect heat and creating more tree canopies in cities, can help lower temperatures by anywhere from 1.5 to 3 degrees.
Bolstering cooling centres and developing a ‘check on your neighbour program,’ to ensure elderly and vulnerable citizens are regularly visited during heat waves, are other practical solutions the Intact Centre is pursuing.
Bay Street
For several years institutional investors such as pension funds have pursued ‘climate-friendly’ investment opportunities, such as investing in low-carbon industries.
Feltmate lauds these efforts and notes the Intact Centre is engaging directly with pension fund managers to be even more direct.
“On an industry-specific basis, from utilities to financial services, we are identifying the top risks the companies face in terms of fire, floods and extreme heat,” Feltmate says.
“We are empowering them to ask the right questions, which drives adaptation.”
Strategic Impacts Through Intact Centre
The Faculty of Environment has strategic goals to be Canada’s leader in environmental education and to achieve increased impact through sustainability research.
The achievements of the Intact Centre are shining examples of realizing these goals.
“The meaningful and cost effective measures the Intact Centre and our partner groups are putting in place is truly driving behaviour change in a positive direction,” Feltmate says.
“We are helping people help themselves and that to me, is what makes a real difference.”
What you can do to safeguard your home from basement flooding:
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Maintain What You Have
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Remove debris from your storm drain, clean out eavestroughs and check for leaks in plumbing
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Do Simple Upgrades
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Install window well covers and extend downspouts at least two metres from foundation
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Go the Extra Mile
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Correct grading to direct water away from foundation or install a backup sump pump
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