Disaster Risk Reduction – Climate Adaptation Funding Stream (Canada)

Categories

• Funding is divided into three categories:
  • Category 1: Foundational activities (risk mapping, risk assessments, planning)
  • Category 2: Non-structural activities (land use planning and education, temporary mitigation equipment)
  • Category 3: Small-scale structural activities

Funding Information

• The DRR-CA funding stream can contribute 100% of the cost of eligible activities to a maximum of:
  • Category 1 (Foundational Activities): $150,000 per applicant
  • Category 2 (Non-Structural Activities): $150,000 per applicant
  • Category 3 (Small-scale Structural Activities): $5 million

Eligible Projects

• To qualify for funding, proposed activities must support eligible applicants to reduce disaster risks from natural hazards and climate-related events and are required to be:
  • A new or a subsequent phase of a DRR-CA related project (retroactive funding is not available).
  • Capable of completion by the applicant within two years from the date of grant approval.
  • For either:
    • First Nations land, Provincial Crown Land, or publicly owned land;
    • First Nations owned buildings or publicly owned buildings; and/or,
    • Publicly, provincially, and First Nations owned Critical Infrastructure.

Eligible Activities

• Category 1: Foundational Activities
  • Eligible activities include:
    • Completion of a DRR-CA plan or a multi-natural hazard/climate risk resilience plan, including extreme temperature or drought plans.
    • Assessment of the community’s adaptative capacity.
    • Preliminary planning and design activities related to the development of proposed structural and non-structural projects, including preliminary planning and design activities related to temporary mitigation equipment.
    • Benefit-cost analysis to assess the future risk reduction options under consideration and comparing the potential benefits to its costs. It is recommended that a comparison between structural (green or grey infrastructure) and non-structural (bylaws, strategic relocation, temporary mitigation equipment) is included, where possible.
• Category 2: Non-Structural Projects
  • Eligible activities include:
    • Land use planning that contributes to long-term disaster risk reduction-climate adaptation (e.g., amendments to relevant plans, bylaws, and policies).
    • Developing disaster risk reduction-climate adaptation policies and practices for the design and maintenance of First Nations land and/or publicly owned land, such as parks and open spaces, and/or for the design and maintenance of First Nations owned buildings and/or publicly owned buildings.
    • Purchasing monitoring equipment for data collection related to disaster risk reduction-climate adaptation (e.g., hydrometric stations, seismic and tsunami monitoring equipment, water monitoring equipment or meters). Installation of monitoring equipment is limited to First Nations land, publicly owned land, First Nations owned buildings, publicly owned buildings, and/or publicly and First Nations owned critical infrastructure. Refer to Appendix 2 for examples of existing monitoring resources and organizations.
    • Delivering community education and awareness projects (e.g., community workshops, story maps, public signage, and/or art projects) that are primarily focused on community-level disaster risk reduction-climate adaptation
• Category 3: Small-scale Structural Projects
  • Eligible activities include:
    • Installation of structural flood protection works, or upgrades/retrofits to modernize existing structural flood protection works (e.g., dikes, flood walls, pump stations, flood boxes, debris catchment structures, seawalls, bulkheads, jetties, dam flood risk reduction).
    • Construction of flood conveyance works (e.g., bypass channels).
    • Daylighting or opening up buried watercourses (e.g., streams, creeks, rivers) and restoring to more natural conditions.
    • Dam or dike decommissioning and floodplain restoration.
    • Slope stabilization projects relating to debris flow risk reduction.
    • Wetland restoration and/or rain gardens, bioswales, and infiltration bulges.
    • Beach nourishment and/or bank stabilization.
    • Restoring natural shoreline protection through wetland, kelp forests, clam beds, and marsh and beach nourishment to create a soft edge natural shoreline structure to protect against sea level rise and storm surges.
    • Public cooling/warming infrastructure, including natural infrastructure (e.g., treed areas), to reduce community vulnerability to extreme temperatures (e.g., designated cooling/warming centres, cooling corridors), excluding activities funded under the Extreme Weather Response program.
    • Vertical evacuation refuge structures limited to communities with potential tsunami inundation and where the population is unable to evacuate to high ground. Applicants must demonstrate the planned and potential uses for a refuge structure.
    • Other innovative projects that clearly demonstrate risk reduction potential and/or transferable learnings to other communities in BC.

Eligibility Criteria

• All First Nations (bands and Treaty First Nations) and local governments (municipalities and regional districts) in BC are eligible to apply.
• Eligible applicants can submit one application per funding stream intake. This includes applying as a partnering applicant in a regional application.
• For the purpose of CEPF funding, the following agencies are able to act as a primary applicant:
  • An emergency management organization that is created by a regional district service establishing By law and approved by the Province of BC may act as the primary applicant on behalf of eligible applicants that participate in the established emergency management service. When acting as a primary applicant on behalf of eligible applicants, the regional emergency management organization may submit more than one application per funding stream intake provided that each eligible First Nation or local government that is included as a sub-applicant is only funded once per intake.
  • An Indigenous governing body with authority for emergency management may act as the primary applicant on behalf of eligible First Nations. The Indigenous governing body may submit more than one application per funding stream intake provided that each eligible First Nation that is included as a sub-applicant is only funded once per intake.

For more information, visit UBCM.