Feds allocate $47M to climate-resilience programs
The federal government has propped up two national climate-resilience programs with funding of nearly $47 million.
Federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Dominic LeBlanc was among those to announce the funding on June 28. The money will go to support the Climate Resilient Built Environment initiative and the Standards to Support Resilience in Infrastructure Program.
“Communities across Canada have felt the impacts of climate change over the last number of years,” he said. “As we continue to take bold action to reduce our emissions and protect nature, we must support key research that guides mitigation and adaptation efforts to ensure that new and existing infrastructure can better withstand extreme weather events.”
The Climate Resilient Built Environment initiative, which is funded by Infrastructure Canada and led by the National Research Council of Canada, will provide research to adapt public infrastructure where necessary, inform changes to building and infrastructure codes, and create guides, standards, tools and technical solutions for climate resilience.
With funding of $35 million over five years, the initiative will highlight the importance of resilience through collaboration across the construction sector, from design and decision-making to construction, operation, maintenance and retrofit.
“The National Research Council of Canada is pleased to work with collaborators across the sector on the research and development that will be needed to adapt Canada’s critical infrastructure to a changing climate,” said NRC president Iain Stewart. “We look forward to continuing our work with construction experts across Canada to provide the knowledge and tools needed to improve and advance the resiliency of Canada’s infrastructure and communities.”
The initiative builds on the work of the Climate-Resilient Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure (CRBCPI) initiative, which was a similar five-year initiative that ended in March 2021. Under that initiative, more than 150 collaborators, including all levels of government, national and international experts from academia, engineering consulting firms, industry, non-profit organizations and the climate science community helped develop practical tools to help the Canadian construction industry meet future challenges.
The Standards to Support Resilience in Infrastructure Program, which is led by the Standards Council of Canada, will receive new funding of $11.7 million over five years to deliver standards and related guidance that address priority areas such as heat, flooding and permafrost degradation in the North.
The program ensures standardization projects promote a consistent approach to climate change adaptation, enhance resilience, and support informed decision making for infrastructure and buildings across Canada.
The first five years of the program saw the development of 41 standards and related guidance to safeguard communities and infrastructure on topics ranging from flooding and high winds to permafrost degradation.
The government says both initiatives will help improve resilience to climate change by informing future design, retrofits and upgrades to buildings and infrastructure.