Making Canadian communities flood resilient requires using a full range of tools to protect people and property. Together with diverse stakeholders from across Canada, Partners for Action is leading an applied research project on managed retreat from high-risk flood areas through property buyouts that move people out of harm’s way. To implement buyouts effectively, decision-makers require evidence-based policy advice about how to design programs that maximize economic efficiency, political viability and social acceptability. With grant funding from the Max Bell Foundation, this project will draw lessons from current and past buyout programs and highlight the tradeoffs that governments must consider when designing new programs.
The specific objectives of the project are to:
- generate new knowledge by critically evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of past property buyout programs in Canadian communities;
- engage target audiences to identify enabling conditions that strengthen the efficiency, social acceptability, and political viability of property buyout programs; and,
- equip policymakers and practitioners with evidence-based guidance about how to design and implement effective property buyout programs.
Read the Report
Buying Out the Floodplain: Recommendations for Strategic Relocation Programs in Canada | Acheter la plaine inondable : recommandations pour les programmes de relocalisation stratégique au Canada
Related publications and resources
- Managed retreat from high-risk flood areas: Design considerations for effective property buyout programs, CIGI Policy Brief No. 158, Jason Thistlethwaite, Daniel Henstra, Anna Ziolecki
- Climate Caucus and Partners for Action Webinar Resiliency Series. Sean Strang, Shaieree Cottar, Sharmalene Mendis-Millard. (2023).
- Saunders-Hastings, P., Barnard, M. and Doberstein, B. (2020). Planned Retreat Approaches to Support Resilience to Climate Change in Canada. Natural Resources Canada: Ottawa, Canada.
Retreating from Risk (RFR) - Decision-Supports for the Equitable Implementation of Retreat to Build Climate Resilience (2024-2028)
Partners for Action is supporting the New Frontiers Research Fund (NFRF-I) – International: Retreating from Risk (RFR) - Decision- Supports for the Equitable Implementation of Retreat to Build Climate Resilienceproject led by Dr. Brent Doberstein. The $2.45 million, 4-year project led will develop a decision framework and tools and provide capacity-building to support local managed retreat decision-making across Canada, the USA, and Indonesia. This project will investigate how managed retreat can be incorporated as a proactive strategy to reduce flood risks and support community well-being, including socio-ecological resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and climate justice.
We propose a re-envisioning of MR as a proactive adaptation approach that centres the needs of frontline communities in addressing changing flood risks in an era of climate uncertainty. Our goal is to co-create knowledge and action outputs to support the development and uptake of equity-informed, community-engaged managed retreat programs as a viable climate adaptation strategy.
Watch the Webinar
Additional Webinars
Climate Caucus Series:
- Local Resiliency: When and How to Integrate Private Property Buyouts for Disaster Risk Reduction: This webinar is part of the Local Resiliency series, co-led with Partners for Action, where we explore the theme of 'Building Resilience to Reduce Climate Risks' and learn about work being done to implement climate resilience and adaptation actions at the community level. As the impacts of climate change intensify, communities will require transformative adaptation strategies that not only mitigate risk but also address vulnerabilities. One such strategy is managed retreat, where people, property, and critical infrastructure are strategically relocated out of areas prone to recurrent climatic hazards. Given the variability in how and when managed retreat can be implemented, it is important to consider the use of buyouts as a broader tool for flood mitigation work that requires 100% buy-in to execute. Hear from a municipal practitioner about on-the-ground challenges and opportunities to break the cycle of increasing climate risks and damages, including why managed retreat has few examples to date in Canada.
- Electeds Call: Managed Retreat: At this electeds call we dive into the topic of managed retreat. The executive director of CLIMAtlantic, Sabine Dietz, provides an insightful overview of managed retreat. Shannon Fernandez, Manager of Adaptation at Halifax Regional Municipality, shares Halifax’s experiences and interest in managed retreat. Councillor Anik Des Marais discusses Gatineau's buyout of Pointe Gatineau.
Search the Database
Where have property buyout programs occurred in Canada? As part of our research, we created a database of previously implemented property buyout programs.
