Canada’s grade on flood preparedness: C
Canada’s provinces and territories received a grade of C on flood preparedness, as determined following a two-year national study completed in 2019.
Canada’s provinces and territories received a grade of C on flood preparedness, as determined following a two-year national study completed in 2019.
By Media RelationsCanada’s provinces and territories received a grade of C on flood preparedness, as determined following a two-year national study completed in 2019.
The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo interviewed 139 provincial and territorial government representatives responsible for managing floods, climate-related risks and emergency services from across all regions of Canada to calculate the grade.
A comparable study completed in 2016 resulted in a national score of C-, suggesting that Canada’s preparedness to limit flood risk has showed progress over the past four years.
“Canada is heading in the right direction on flood risk protection. In light of effectively irreversible climate change, both the challenge and opportunity going forward will be to continue to deploy measures to limit future risk of flooding”, said Blair Feltmate, Head of the Intact Centre and author on the report.
Flood Grade of Canada’s Provinces and Territories |
||
Province/Territory |
2016 |
2019 |
British Columbia |
D |
C+ |
Alberta |
C+ |
C+ |
Saskatchewan |
C |
C |
Manitoba |
C |
C- |
Ontario |
B- |
C |
Quebec |
C |
C |
New Brunswick |
C- |
C |
Nova Scotia |
C+ |
C |
PEI |
D |
B- |
Newfoundland & Labrador |
D+ |
C+ |
Yukon |
D+ |
B- |
Northwest Territories |
NA |
C |
Nunavut |
NA |
C- |
The flood preparedness of provinces and territories was evaluated relative to nine and seven criteria, respectively, that addressed such topics as:
For each interview and area examined, provinces and territories were assessed on a quantitative five-point scale, which ranged from ‘A’ for the highest state of flood preparedness, to ‘E’ for the least prepared.
Key highlights of the study include:
Of the primary sources of flooding across Canada (i.e., riverine, urban, coastal, ice jams, groundwater), only riverine mapping has been developed by all provinces for some portion of their jurisdiction. For all other flood sources – that prove increasingly challenging against the backdrop of climate change – the report identified that mapping efforts remain either underdeveloped, incomplete or non-existent.
“Climate change is not solely an environmental issue, it’s a societal and economic one” said Charles Brindamour, CEO of Intact Financial. “Adapting to the impacts of climate change is a collective effort. The recommendations in this report enable communities, NGOs and governments to continue to progress and accelerate resilience measures and standards that will have a lasting impact.”
Overall, the study revealed that understanding of flood risk mitigation across Canada is high. Canadian provinces and territories must now double-down on the deployment of adaptation practices to ensure that the 2024 national grade on flood preparedness becomes an A.
Read the full report here: Climate Change and the Preparedness of Canadian Provinces and Territories to Limit Flood Risk
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