Municipal Climate Resilience Grants
Building More Resilient Communities
Through our granting programs, Intact is helping communities adapt to the effects of climate change and protect people from floods, wildfires and extreme heat. Our partners are exploring real, concrete solutions to make our communities, our people and our economy more resilient.
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Fort McMurray - Alberta
FireSmartTM 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
FireSmartTM 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.
Alus Canada
Project name: Implementing natural infrastructure projects in communities upstream of urban centres
Description: ALUS Canada implements natural-infrastructure projects on marginal or inefficient-to-farm agricultural lands, to reduce the risk of floods in Calgary, Ottawa and Brandon, MB.
Outcomes to date:
- 217 acres of land restored as natural-infrastructure projects.
- 8 farmers and ranchers newly enrolled in ALUS program.
- 3 new ALUS community programs surrounding the city of Calgary
Ducks Unlimited
Project name: Brick Ponds Wetland Restoration and Enhancement
Description: Increasing the amount of shallow water wetland cells to provide wildlife habitat, increase aquatic plant diversity and to aid in flood water management and water quality improvement.
Results to date:
- Increased community resiliency in Woodstock, Ont., by attenuating stormwater through a series of new shallow wetlands and channels, increased sequestration of carbon and the management and eradication of invasive species.
- Reduced potential for residential basement flooding due to increased water-retention capacity and improved water management in the watershed.
Evergreen
Project name: Climate-Ready Schools
Description: 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.
Projected outcomes:
- Develop a cost-benefit analysis and behaviour mapping to guide creation of design choices for optimum impact.
- Engage nine different school communities by 2021.
- Create guidelines for school ground design that prioritize 85% rain infiltration to combat flooding and prioritize foliage and tree canopy to buffer high winds and reduce extreme heat.
FireSmart Canada
Project name: FireSmart Home Partners
Description: Addressing the need for a standardized system that offers defendable, detailed and customized wildfire risk assessments and tracks measurable risk reduction for homes.
Results to date:
- Creation of an online FireSmart Home Partners Program training course for firefighters, allowing 500 firefighters to be trained in one year instead of 100.
- Work is underway to expand the program from Alberta to British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
- Creation of an initial assessment tool that summer students at fire stations in Wood Buffalo and Fort McMurray used to complete 350 initial assessments.
Green Learning Canada Foundation
Project name: Wild weather – engaging youth in education and action on extreme weather preparedness
Description: Description: Flood education directly engages youth in preparing their schools and homes for a flood event.
Results to date:
- 400 youth participated in a beta version of the flood education program.
- 80 teachers (about 2,000 students) have registered for the 2019-2020 flood education program.
Nature Conservancy of Canada
Project name: Protecting and Restoring Wetlands
Description: Protecting and restoring wetlands in Ontario and Quebec to help reduce the impact of severe storms.
Results to date:
- 4 new wetlands created (5 acres total).
- 60 acres of native habitat restored to reduce floods and non-point pollution.
Nature-Action Québec
Project name: Restoring shorelines to reduce flood risk in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Description: Shoreline restoration of the Hazen Bleury and the Barbotte rivers targeted for their vulnerability to flood and their low vegetation.
Results to date:
- Delivered a report to prioritize action sites and map priority intervention areas.
Nature Québec
Project name: Healthy Living Space
Description: Help municipalities reduce the number of heat islands and air pollution through heat island mapping, public awareness and green areas preservation and restoration.
Results to date:
- Collaborated with the City of Sherbrooke to develop a multi-functional greenspace in the Saint-Élie neighbourhood.
- Collaborated with the City of Victoriaville to convert a parking lot into a green parking lot.
- In the City of Trois-Rivières, projects include greening the outdoor space of a community centre and depaving a school yard.
Conseil régional de l’environnement et du développement durable de l’Outaouais
Project name: Reducing heat islands of downtown Gatineau
Description: Reduce the impact of urban heat islands by implementing a strategy that includes greening and community involvement.
Projected outcomes:
- Reduce the quantity of heat islands in the region of downtown Gatineau
- Implement and scale a greening strategy for the city of Gatineau.
Fondation en environnement et en développement durable (dirigée par le CRE – Capitale-Nationale)
Project name: Quebec City: Creating a Green Sponge City
Description: 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.
Projected outcomes:
- Develop and implement a rainwater management and urban greening strategy in 4-5 priority areas.
- Reduce flooding and heat island effects in the pilot areas, as well as increasing the communities’ quality of life.
- Influence property managers to invest in green infrastructure based on a cost-benefit analysis of pilot project.
Sentier Urbain
Project name: The Garden Circuit
Description: Restore green areas by creating urban gardens, improving water management, increasing the levels of oxygen and reducing CO2 emissions in the sector.
Results to date:
- Three new gardens were created in the Montreal area.
- 54 new trees and 786 plants were planted.
- More than 270 workshops were delivered to raise awareness on the importance of greening initiatives to reduce urban heat islands.
WWF-Canada
Project name: Bleu Montreal
Description: Restoring water to the urban landscape, improving water management and strengthening Montreal’s resilience by uncovering underground rivers and creating new ones.
Results to date:
- Successfully completed a feasibility study of three pilot projects in three Montreal boroughs.
Gathering Voices Society
Project name: Building adaptive community fire programs
Description: 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.
Projected outcomes:
- Train a minimum of 10 community fire managers who will test and validate a proactive fire management program.
- Establish a working group on fire-carbon finance that includes scientists, industry, government and First Nations.
University of British Columbia
Project name: Megafires – urgent need for climate change adaptation to build community resilience, prevention and recovery
Description: Developing post-fire recovery strategies to prevent future forest fires and increase climate resilience in 21 communities in Canada.
Results to date:
- Analysis of more than 300 fire scarred trees and collection of 1,000 cores from trees.
- The team is building statistical models to show forest composition and structure prior to European settlement and the relationship between the time of the last fire, forest density and growth rates of trees in the study forests.
The Miistakis Institute of the Rockies Inc.
Project name: Smart from the start
Description: Creating a least-conflict lands planning tool to guide placement of large scale solar and wind projects.
Results to date:
- Digital maps that can be used by provincial and municipal planners to help municipalities site renewable energy development to areas of least ecological, social and economic conflict.
- Actively working with other rural municipalities in Alberta to implement the least conflict lands process to aid in placement of renewable energy development and to inform municipal planning strategies.
Green Calgary
Project name: Flood prevention through rainwater harvesting
Description: Helping Calgarians to act to protect their homes through rainwater harvesting.
Results to date:
- 2,000 Calgary homeowners bought rain barrels for their gardens to reduce flood risk, potentially conserving 6.8 million litres of water per year.
- Over the lifetime of a barrel (9 years), it can result in 61 million litres of water captured.
University of Alberta
Project name: Using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict extreme fire weather
Description: Developing a computer program that recognizes large scale atmospheric patterns associated with extreme fire weather using AI.
Results to date:
- Identified Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), a deep learning approach commonly used for image analysis, as the AI/machine learning model to predict extreme fire weather.
- Preliminary data collection and CNN modelling.
Coastal Action
Project name: Flood Protection and Shoreline Stabilization Project
Description: Description: 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.
Projected outcomes:
- A living shoreline will reduce the volume of stormwater runoff entering the harbour and protect residents from flooding caused by sea level rise, storm surges and rain.
- Measure the impact of the living shoreline and create a cost-benefit analysis to scale the solutions to other communities.
Coastal Action
Project name: Green Streets stormwater project
Description: Working directly with municipal and community partners in southwest Nova Scotia to locate, design and install low impact development (LID) projects with the aim of improving stormwater management.
Results to date:
- Planted about 1,000 native plants.
- Diverted more than 1,000 m3 of stormwater runoff annually and removed more than 500 kg of contaminants.
- Engaged more than 600 people in stormwater management workshops, presentations and community planting days.
Community Forests International
Project name: Forest Infrastructure Adaptation Project
Description: A natural infrastructure adaptation approach to flood-risk reduction in New Brunswick.
Results to date:
- Saved 350 acres of endangered forest in one of New Brunswick’s most flood-prone regions.
- Completed hydrological analysis of 1,125 acres of forest in the Washademoak watershed – one of New Brunswick’s most flood-prone regions. The analysis will be the basis for a business case for the flood attenuation effects of forests.
- Planting 250,000 trees in fall 2020.
Credit Valley Conservation
Project name: Piloting a smart blue roof to adapt and respond to extreme events
Description: 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.
Projected outcomes:
- Reduced community flooding by reducing the amount of stormwater in the sewer system and increasing the service life of downstream storm sewer infrastructure.
- Reduced maintenance costs and energy consumption leading to cost savings for private landowners, the municipality and the region.