Reports & Publications Library

Planned retreat approaches to support resilience to climate change in Canada

Saunders-Hastings, P., Barnard, M., & Doberstein, B. (2020). Natural Resources Canada: Ottawa, Canada.

This report, produced for Natural Resources Canada, examines proactive planned retreat approaches for adapting to a changing climate where increasing intensity, frequency, and extent of flooding, sea level rise, and shoreline erosion will increase risks for communities. Developed to support practitioners, decision makers, and community stakeholders, the report explores how proactive retreat moves infrastructure, homes, and other land uses away from high-risk areas, reducing human, physical, and economic damage from climate change and natural disasters. The report synthesizes key findings related to triggers, enablers and barriers, and health implications of retreat in Canada and internationally. In addition, there are six case studies documenting retreat experiences from across Canada. This report concludes with good practices and considerations for implementing retreat in the Canadian context and for applying a proactive planned approach considering a changing climate (versus reactive retreat after a disaster).

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Buying out the floodplain: Recommendations for strategic relocation programs in Canada

Thistlethwaite, J., Le Geyt, M., Martin, G., Cottar, S., & Whittaker, L. (2023). Partners for Action, University of Waterloo.

With increasingly severe flood events, Canadian communities require a full range of tools to protect people and property. Property buyout programs—which involve the relocation of high-risk neighbourhoods via government acquisition of property—are considered among the most effective forms of risk management since they directly reduce exposure to flooding. However, buyout programs are often resisted by local governments and their citizens. For local governments, buying out property is expensive and takes away a source of tax revenue. For citizens, relocation can be traumatic and might mean abandoning a home or neighbourhood lived in for generations. With grant funding from the Max Bell Foundation, this applied research project led by Parters for Action explores lessons from current and past buyout programs and highlights the trade-offs that governments must consider when designing new program.

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