Municipal Climate Resilience Grants

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Fort McMurray - Alberta

FireSmart^TM Home Action Rebate Program : Located in the middle of the boreal forest, The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is at an increased risk of being affected by wildfires. The FireSmart Home Action Rebate Program provides rebates to residents for home upgrades recommended by a FireSmart free home assessment. Airborne fire embers are a significant threat to homeowners and often cause extensive property damage. By upgrading and replacing highly flammable materials with FireSmart approved options, homeowners can reduce their risk of serious property damage.

City of Charlottetown - PEI

Flood Risk Reduction Rebate Program: The Charlottetown Flood Risk Reduction Rebate Program is a year-long initiative that aims to protect residents’ homes by increasing public understanding of flood risk and the steps to achieve climate resiliency. As a low-lying coastal area, many homes in Charlottetown are susceptible to flooding and erosion. Ensuring homes have adequate prevention measures in place can come with an overwhelming cost. To help support residents, the program is providing rebates of 75% of the cost up to $1,000 for the repair or installation of a sump pump or back-up battery/alarm.

City of Fredericton - New-Brunswick

Neighbourhood-Level Flood Risk Portal: The City of Fredericton Neighbourhood-Level Flood Risk Portal is a tool designed to provide location specific information to residents, so they are not only more informed prior to and during flooding events but also better prepared for when they occur. Recent modelling has shown the City of Fredericton will experience more annual rainfall in fewer days indicating more intense bursts of significant precipitation. The portal will provide residents with information including maps, potential risks and expected impacts, guidance on reducing risk and many other useful resources.

Environmental Youth Alliance Society, Vancouver - British Columbia

Increasing Climate Resilience through Wetland Development in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: Led by the Environmental Youth Alliance and Strathcona Community Gardens, this project, aims to develop a wetland in downtown eastside Vancouver beginning in October 2022. This year-long initiative will engage at-risk youth and local residents in the development of a wetland, which will mitigate flooding problems commonly seen in the area. The wetland area will catch and absorb rainfall and surface runoff, reducing flooding, and helping to manage and mitigate the impact of more frequent extreme rain events caused by climate change.

 Lac La Biche County - Alberta

Wildfire Mitigation Incentive Program: The community of Lac La Biche and surrounding area is primarily located in a forest protection area. These areas are heavily wooded and prone to wildfires. Lac La Biche County aims to increase awareness and preventative action around wildfire hazards in residential property owners through an incentive program. The program encourages residents to participate in home FireSmart assessments and apply for funding to upgrade and improve their property to help reduce the risk of wildfires in the area. The program will subsidize 50 per cent of the homeowner project cost up to $2,500 and runs until August 2023.

Municipality of Red Lake - Ontario

Fire Break Development in the Municipality of Red Lake: After evacuating its community in 2020 due to wildfires and being placed on high alert in 2021, the Municipality of Red Lake is undertaking a wildfire mitigation project to help protect the community, residents and infrastructure, The project will widen a pre-existing bush road – from Nungesser Rd to Walsh Lake/Walsh Lake to Ranger Lake to create a more effective fire break that will aid in slowing or stopping the progress of a wildfire. The project will take nearly a year to complete with work already underway.

The Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq - Nova Scotia

Fire Break Development for the Acadia First Nation’s member communities: The increased risk of wildfire due to extreme draught caused by hotter, drier summers is a growing concern in Nova Scotia, particularly in the area of the Acadia First Nation. A wildfire risk assessment, conducted in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, found that three of Acadia First Nation's member communities are at extreme risk of wildfire. This project will create three 10 to 30-metre fire breaks surrounding the communities. These fire breaks will create an increase time for emergency response in case of fire and decrease the risk of fire spread to other communities.

Town of Whitecourt - Alberta

FireSmart^TM Homeowner Incentive program: The Town of Whitecourt, in partnership with the local Fire Department, is offering free FireSmart home assessments to their residents to provide recommendations that will better protect their home and property from the increasing threat of wildfires. Following the assessment, residents will be eligible for grant incentives to implement the recommended priority solutions. These home improvements aim to help reduce the spread of wildfire in the area. The assessment program is an ongoing initiative with the rebates being distributed through the summer months.

Fondation en environnement et développement durable (FEDD) - Québec

Rain garden program for the citizens of Lac-Sergent: The municipality of Lac-Sergent faces certain challenges, including the risk of flooding and the degradation of the water quality of Sergent Lake. With climate change, the increase in precipitation intensity and frequency will inevitably increase surface runoff and thus bank erosion and sedimentation. More importantly, Sergent Lake is located upstream from downtown Saint-Raymond, which experiences frequent flooding. This project aims to reduce the amount of runoff water by incorporating natural water management infrastructure, such as rain gardens, on residential properties.

This project is part of the sponge city initiative “Ville Éponge” of CRE Capitale-Nationale.

Nature-Action Québec - Québec

Development of an intervention plan for the Rivière à la Raquette watershed: Field visit observations and cartographic data suggest that the Rivière à la Raquette is not in a state of equilibrium. Specifically, it shows serious erosion and slippage, a lack of vegetation, an absence of medium-size wetlands, and very steep riparian strip embankments. All these factors indicate that the river’s reduced mobility space accelerates the flow of water, which increases flooding problems for inhabitants along the Ottawa River. This project aims to develop an intervention plan by targeting priority areas through a hydrogeomorphological analysis of the watershed, and identify solutions adapted to climate change. The goal is to draw up specific intervention plans for each prioritized area.

Coastal Action - Nova Scotia 

Flood Protection and Shoreline Stabilization Project: Using natural infrastructure elements – including a living shoreline, artificial headlands, tidal wetland and a raised dyke – to protect people and businesses in Mahone Bay, N.S., from flooding and coastal erosion.

Credit Valley Conservation - Ontario

Piloting a Smart Blue Roof to Adapt and Respond to Extreme Events: Piloting a smart blue roof to reduce flooding and urban heat islands by capturing rainwater until it evaporates, drains to harvesting tanks, or gradually flows into the stormwater system.

Evergreen - National

Climate-Ready Schools: Creating new school ground design guidelines that integrate natural infrastructure to prevent flooding and protect against heat waves and high winds. The guidelines are being developed in consultation with 14 school board partners in Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

Fondation en environnement et en développement durable (led by CRE-Capitale Nationale) - Quebec

Quebec City: Creating a Green Sponge City: Developing and implementing a natural rainwater management and urban greening strategy in priority areas in Quebec City to protect people from flooding and extreme heat. Both ecological and social benefits will be measured to scale initiatives to other areas and municipalities.

Gathering Voices Society - British Columbia

Building Adaptive Community Fire Programs: Piloting and testing a proactive fire management program with two First Nations communities in British Columbia. It involves surveying and monitoring forests, as well as prescribed burning and mechanical thinning to reduce wildfires.