Question Period Note: Climate Change Adaptation

Climate Change Adaptation

• People in Canada are already experiencing record-breaking climate events—from wildfires to extreme heatwaves to floods—all across the country. Alongside reducing the emissions that fuel climate change, we must also adapt to its resulting impacts.

• In November 2022, the Government of Canada released Canada’s first National Adaptation Strategy for final consultation. The Strategy is a result of extensive engagement since 2021 and presents a shared vision for climate resilience in the country.

• The Government of Canada also released its Adaptation Action Plan, which includes nearly 70 federal actions to address both immediate and future climate risks to Canada.

• The Action Plan announced $1.6 billion over five years in new federal funding commitments to help protect communities across Canada. The additional funding builds on existing federal commitments that total more than $8 billion to date.

• With climate impacts worsening, now is the time to build resilient communities for a strong economy.

• Canada’s climate is warming rapidly, at a rate that is two times faster than the global average and three times faster in the North. This accelerated rate of warming will continue, even as global emissions decrease.

• The human and economic cost of damages from extreme weather events is growing. The floods and mudslides in B.C. in November 2021, and Hurricane Fiona that swept through Atlantic Canada in September 2022, both has led to the loss of life and livelihoods, and highlight the urgent need for adaptation action across Canada.

• A macroeconomic analysis performed by the Canadian Climate Institute found that $1 spent on certain adaptation measures is estimated to generate between $13 and $15 in total benefits by avoiding direct damages and indirectly supporting economic stability and productivity.

• In November 2022, the Government of Canada released Canada’s first National Adaptation Strategy: Building Resilient Communities and a Strong Economy for final comment.

o The strategy proposes a whole-of-society approach to better adapt to and prepare for the impacts of climate change in Canada.

o The Strategy reflects two years of engagement with provincial, territorial, and municipal governments; First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation representatives; key experts and stakeholders; and people from across Canada.

o It represents the first time that Canada will have assembled adaptation objectives and priorities into a single framework, joining many other national and subnational jurisdictions to have done so.

• To complement Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy, the Government of Canada also released its Adaptation Action Plan, which includes a total of nearly 70 federal actions across 22 departments and agencies, illustrating the depth and breadth of action being taken. It recognizes the need to act immediately to take important first steps, with additional financial support to come.

• The federal government announced $1.6 billion over five years in new federal funding commitments to help protect communities from coast to coast to coast such as building climate-resilient infrastructure, and increasing accessibility to climate-related information. The additional funding builds on existing federal commitments to adaptation, disaster resilience, and disaster response that total more than $8 billion to date.

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