Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation Around Ontario’s Great Lakes

TORONTO, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ – Across the country, the impacts of climate change are becoming more severe and more frequent with extreme events like floods and wildfires and more gradual changes like thawing permafrost and rising sea levels, affecting the safety and quality of life of our communities. Acting now will help protect our communities from the worst economic and environmental impacts of climate change by improving long-term resilience and reducing costs associated with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. 

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson and Parliamentary Secretary Julie Dabrusin announced $4.1 million in funding for two projects based around Ontario’s Great Lakes under Natural Resources Canada’s Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities (CRCC) Program. 

Through the CRCC Program, the two projects respectively led by Conservation Ontario and Zuzek Inc. will aim to support coastal communities around the Great Lakes by completing climate change risk assessments and developing integrated adaptation plans and actions in collaboration with regional stakeholders and Indigenous communities.

The Government of Canada is investing in climate change adaptation to proactively support community-led resilience and adaptation efforts. It is essential, now more than ever, that we come together to help communities stay strong in the face of current and future change.

Quotes

“The impacts associated with climate change — including intense wildfires, devastating floods, stronger storms and hurricanes, and permafrost thaw in the north — are being felt environmentally and economically in every single region of Canada. That is why this federal government is acting now to help our communities and economy prepare for and protect against the threat of climate change.  Today’s announcements of two projects based around the Great Lakes support vital, community-based work to keep people safe now and into the future.”

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

“The impacts of climate change are significant and increasing in frequency and severity. Investments in these important initiatives allow Canada to leverage the expertise and guidance of researchers and experts across the country for the benefit of infrastructure planning and decision-making. This is the kind of whole-of-society approach that’s required to better prepare and adapt to the impacts of climate change.”

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada

“We are very pleased to announce funding for these nine projects that will support communities and sectors to develop and implement actions to better adapt to a changing climate. Keeping Canadians safe is a priority, and investments like those announced today go a long way to help mitigate the impacts associated with climate change that are devastating livelihoods, environments and the economy.”

Julie Dabrusin
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Toronto–Danforth

“Climate change is impacting communities in Ontario and across Canada, and that definitely includes our Great Lakes coastal communities. It’s exciting to see federal recognition of the area as a distinct ecological area in need of specific types of protection from an adaptation and resilience perspective.”

Tony Van Bynen
Member of Parliament for Newmarket–Aurora

“The federal government’s decision to designate 8,400 kilometres of Canadian Great Lakes shorelines as coastal areas underscores the importance of protecting local communities and property. By working together, we advance collaborative solutions to coastal hazards. Promoting a climate-resilient future while reinforcing Ontario’s role as a key economic partner and the significance of this freshwater ecosystem are key priorities for Conservation Ontario.”

Chris White
Chair, Conservation Ontario Board of Directors, Mayor of Guelph/Eramosa, and Warden, Wellington County

“As the Chair of the Pelee Coastal Resilience Committee, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to NRCan and the CRCC Program for the funding to create a Climate Resilience and Adaptation Action Plan for the north shore of Lake Erie, from Amherstburg to Port Alma. It has galvanized our local partners to work collaboratively with landowners and stakeholders to develop and implement climate change adaptation solutions to increase coastal resilience.”

Peter Zuzek
President, Zuzek Inc.

Quick Facts

• Every $1 spent on climate change adaptation measures saves up to $15 in terms of the long-term costs involved in mitigating climate change impacts and extreme weather events.
• Since 2015, the Government of Canada has invested more than $6.5 billion in adaptation efforts, including $2.1 billion since fall 2022 to implement the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) and other adaptation-related activities.
• The $41 million CRCC Program supports regional-scale pilot projects on Canada’s three marine coasts — Atlantic, Pacific and North — and in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence region. The program aims to enhance the climate resilience of coastal communities and businesses and to accelerate adaptation to reduce climate change risks and coordinate innovative actions.
• In 2021, the Government of Canada launched the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program with an initial investment of $68.3 million.
• Under the first phase of the FHIMP, NRCan focused on broadening flood mapping in high-risk areas across Canada in collaboration with provinces and territories and cost-shared $52 million in funding for 200 flood mapping projects covering over 800 communities. The flood maps developed through Phase 1 of the FHIMP provide provinces, territories and communities with important tools and information to make informed decisions on flood risk management.
• Alongside cost-sharing flood mapping projects with provinces and territories, the Government of Canada has invested $3 million in 12 projects dedicated to further climate and flood modelling science in flood mapping.
• In 2023, Phase 2 of the FHIMP was launched and supported with an additional investment of $164.2 million over five years through the NAS.
• Phase 2 of the FHIMP aims to continue collaboration with provinces and territories to advance flood mapping and provide up-to-date flood hazard information. With funding until 2028, Phase 2 will help ensure more communities have the tools and information needed to better understand and manage flood risks.
• In Phase 2 of the FHIMP, the Government of Canada is investing an additional $9 million to further support research — including two new research streams led by Natural Resources Canada:
  • $4.7 million over five years to advance the science in regional modelling projects that will help improve nation-wide flood hazard information coverage; and,
  • $1 million to support Indigenous traditional knowledge projects related to flood mapping.
• Up-to-date flood maps:
• support safer land use planning and development and inform zoning decisions, such as locating new developments further away from areas likely to flood; 
  • help governments assess the likelihood of flood events and their potential impacts on populations and infrastructure, and decide how to allocate resources; and,
  • strengthen public safety and help communities better prepare for floods by improving emergency response plans like evacuation routes or better informing structural flood mitigation options.
• The NAS provides a whole-of-society plan focused on protecting Canadian lives and building more-resilient and prosperous communities. Canada released its first NAS on June 27, 2023. Achieving the objectives of the NAS requires whole-of-society action. The Government of Canada is working with provinces, territories, Indigenous partners and the private sector to develop innovative technical, financial and operational solutions that will support adaptation action by communities across the economy.

Related Products

• Backgrounder: Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation to Keep Communities Safe Around Ontario’s Great Lakes
• Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation to Keep Communities Safe in Atlantic Canada 
• Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation to Keep Communities Safe in the Prairies and Across Canada 
• Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation to Keep Communities Safe in British Columbia and Across Canada
• Natural Resources Canada Announces up to $15 Million to Help Communities and Businesses Adapt to a Changing Climate

Associated Links

• Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities Program
• Conservation Ontario
• Zuzek Inc.
• Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program
• National Adaptation Strategy
• Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan
• Building Forward Together: Toward a more resilient Canada – Final report of the Expert Advisory Panel on the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements
• Climate Change Adaptation Program

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada