Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation to Keep Communities Safe in Northern Ontario and Across Canada
SUDBURY, ON , Jan. 29, 2025 /CNW/ - Across the country, the impacts of climate change are becoming more severe and more frequent with extreme events like floods, wildfires and heatwaves on the rise. Gradual changes, like thawing permafrost in the north and rising sea levels in coastal regions, are also affecting the safety of our communities and quality of life. Acting now will help improve long-term resilience and reduce costs associated with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events in Canada, including higher grocery prices, insurance premiums and local taxes to cover the costs of disaster recovery and damage.
To protect our communities from the worst economic and environmental impacts of climate change, we must continue to prepare for the changes that are coming by investing in community resilience. This will not only support the safety of Canadians but also reinforce the ability of communities to recover from extreme weather events.
Today, Marc G. Serré, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, along with Member of Parliament Viviane Lapointe and Member of Parliament Anthony Rota, announced over $2.7 million in funding for five projects based in northern Ontario under Natural Resources Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP).
These projects aim to support professionals, decision makers and First Nation communities in northern Ontario and across Canada to advance the implementation of climate change adaptation plans and actions through the development and delivery of tools, training and resources. One of the projects will also identify lessons learned from previously implemented adaptation actions.
The funding announced today comes from a total investment of $39.5 million, announced on November 14, 2024, through the CCAP and the Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities (CRCC) Program to reduce climate change risks and build more resilient communities across the country in support of the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS).
The steps we take now will protect our communities, our livelihoods, our environment and our economy. We are actively investing in climate change adaptation to proactively support community-led resilience and adaptation projects. 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 tropical 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 our economy prepare for and protect against the threat of climate change. Today's announcement of five projects based in northern Ontario under the CCAP supports the vital long-term, community-based work to keep people safe now and into the future.'
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
'Today's funding announcement will support five important projects that are helping communities and sectors take action to adapt to our changing climate. These initiatives are led by passionate researchers and organizations who truly have our environment and our well-being at heart. By investing in projects like these, we're working together to protect our homes, livelihoods and the places we love from the growing risks of climate change.'
Marc G. Serré
Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Official Languages
'Sudbury is a leader in environmental remediation. This investment secures our standing and our efforts as good stewards of the environment and our community. Being able to adapt and build resiliency is worth investing in, and that's what we are doing. The vital work being done here will help us better prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change.'
Viviane Lapointe
Member of Parliament for Sudbury
'Communities across Canada and in Ontario are being affected by the rising impacts of extreme weather events. Now is the time to work together and build climate change responses that address current and future problems. By taking the necessary steps today to adapt and build resiliency, we are helping our communities prepare themselves to respond and better adapt to the impacts of climate change.'
Anthony Rota
Member of Parliament for Nipissing–Timiskaming
'Up North on Climate is honoured to collaborate with four Northern Ontario Tribal Councils in the Partnership for Indigenous Climate Change Adaptation. Together, we are creating an online resource and micro-credentials to share the impacts of climate change on First Nation communities. The GeoHub will feature accessible, dynamic story maps highlighting community experiences and adaptation ideas, blending Indigenous and Western knowledge to build resilience.'
Chantal Sarrazin-Delay
Lead, Up North on Climate, Laurentian University
'The training that we are developing is not widely available within the forest sector and across Canada. By building on existing resources and proven materials, and through collaboration with partners, we believe that the proposed training program can play a pivotal role in advancing climate change adaptation practice and contribute to the resilience and sustainability of forests and the forest sector.'
Mark Pearson
Executive Director, Canadian Institute of Forestry
'Climate change is outpacing our efforts to protect people and communities from the harsh impacts of extreme weather. The Climate Risk Institute is grateful for this support from Natural Resources Canada, which will provide examples of best current practice in areas of climate resilience and inspire greater scales of implementation. Through these projects, the Climate Risk Institute will engage with key professions and others across Canada to build knowledge, capacity and competencies so that climate resilience becomes more mainstream within their practice.'
Al Douglas
President, Climate Risk Institute
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 NAS and other adaptation-related activities.
The CCAP will help Canada's regions and sectors to adapt to a changing climate. More specifically, the CCAP aims to:
support decision makers in identifying and implementing adaptation actions;
enhance adaptation knowledge and skills among Canada's workforce; and
increase access to climate change adaptation tools and resources.
The 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.
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.
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