Communicating Flood Risk to Canadians

flooding cartoonAwareness to Action: Effectively Communicating Flood Risk to Canadians 

Through Public Safety Canada’s National Disaster Mitigation Program (NDMP), P4A continues to promote and educate Canadians about their flood risks and what actions can be taken to prepare and prevent household flooding.

Some of the key activities include:

  • Flood educational materials: P4A partnered with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society to produce flood risk awareness to action materials for grades 5-12. The materials will be promoted nationally to over 20,000 educators.
  • Communicating Flood Risk to Canadians: P4A’s collaborative approach brought together experts from all levels of government, conservation authorities, academia, non-profits and industry (e.g., insurance, real estate, consultants, etc.). The workshop focused on collectively discussing how flood risk information should be communicated in order to encourage Canadians to take action, increase property- and community-level flood resilience, and reduce reliance on disaster assistance after floods. Findings from the workshop are outlined in the report, “Communicating Flood Risk to Canadians: Understanding the Challenges and Developing Best Practices.” 
  • Awareness to Action Messaging: Based on the feedback from the Flood Communications workshop P4A is currently developing communication approaches that drive action at the home and community level. The goal is to encourage behavioural changes and overcome barriers to action in order to create more flood resilient communities. Once completed, P4A will partner with two Ontario communities to test out the messaging and determine which approaches and methods drive action.