Reports
See below our recent reports on climate adaptation. Click the links below to view PDF versions of the reports, one-page infographics summarizing key findings, as well as press releases for each report launch.
2024
Applying Lessons From Home Flood Protection to Enhance Residential Earthquake Preparedness: A Canadian Perspective
October 2024
Caroline Metz, Cheryl Evans, and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report draws on lessons learned from the Intact Centre’s Home Flood Protection Program and shows how approaches to mobilize flood protection at the residential level may be applied to reduce earthquake risk, for homes in Canada’s major earthquake zones. The report profiles three principal mechanisms that have the potential to motivate protective behavior for earthquakes.
The findings offer practical approaches which may strengthen earthquake risk management and guide homeowners toward greater preparedness.
Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up
April 2024
Joanna Eyquem and Mélie Monnerat
The Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up has been developed to support Canadian municipalities in better preparing for heavy rainfall, river, and coastal flooding. It is a self-assessment questionnaire with 50 questions designed to assess potential flood hazards (flood exposure), and implementation of actions to reduce flood risks (flood preparedness).
The new report A Flood Risk Check-Up For Canadian Municipalities: Tackling Flooding Together provides all the background information on our new Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up tool, such as how it was developed, how it is organized, and why it is needed in Canada now.
2023
Wildfire-Ready: Practical Guidance to Strengthen the Resilience of Canadian Homes and Communities
December 2023
Cheryl Evans, Dr. Anabela Bonada, and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report presents a user-friendly synthesis of best practice guidance developed primarily by the National Research Council Canada, and FireSmartTM Canada, a national program that has been helping communities improve their wildfire resilience for 30 years. Additionally, the report consolidates two plain language, image-based infographics, designed to accelerate implementation of practical actions: Three Steps to a Cost-Effective FireSmart™ Home and Three Features of a Wildfire-Ready Community
Transitioning from Rhetoric to Action: Integrating Physical Climate Change and Extreme Weather Risk into Institutional Investing
July 2023
Kathryn Bakos and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report presents a practical means to factor climate change and extreme weather risk into institutional investing. Climate Risk Matrices (CRM) offer industry-specific standardization and are a practical tool to prioritize the top means by which climate-related events may negatively impact business continuity, while simultaneously identifying actions investors should expect a company to take to mitigate prioritized risks. Six CRMs are profiled in this report: 1) Electricity Transmission & Distribution, 2) Commercial Real Estate, 3) Banking (Residential Mortgage Providers), 4) Property and Casualty Insurance (Personal Home Insurance), 5) Hydroelectricity Generation, and 6) Wind Electricity Generation.
Managing Flooding and Erosion at the Watershed-Scale: Guidance to Support Governments Using Nature-Based Solutions
April 2023
Joanna Eyquem
The paper recommends 1) development of consistent provincial approaches to integrated watershed management, 2) direction of funding for river flood management to high-risk watersheds and 3) routine consideration of nature-based solutions for river flood and erosion management. Several opportunities for standardization to support these three recommendations are also identified.
2022
Getting Nature on the Balance Sheet: Recognizing the Financial Value Provided by Natural Assets in a Changing Climate
October 2022
Joanna Eyquem, Bailey Church, Roy Brooke and Michelle Molnar
This paper outlines (1) actions that are being taken to manage natural assets in Canada, (2) established methods of valuing the services nature provides, and (3) steps that can be taken to recognize and value the services in public and private sector accounting and decision-making.
Irreversible Extreme Heat: Protecting Canadians and Communities from a Lethal Future
April 2022
Joanna Eyquem and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This guide presents a series of practical actions that Canadians can undertake to reduce extreme heat risks. They fall into three categories: Changing behaviour (non-structural), working with nature (green infrastructure), and improving buildings and public infrastructure (grey infrastructure).
Treading Water: Impact of Catastrophic Flooding on Canada’s Housing Market
February 2022
Kathryn Bakos, Dr. Blair Feltmate, Chris Chopik and Cheryl Evans
This study examined whether catastrophic flooding affects Canadian residential real estate (house sold price, days on market, number of listings) and mortgage markets (arrears and deferrals). The primary audience to which findings of this report bear direct relevance includes homeowners, mortgage providers, municipalities and financial
Wildfire-Resilience Best-Practice Checklist for Home Construction, Renovation and Landscaping
In collaboration with FireSmart™ Canada, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, and the University of Alberta, the Intact Centre developed the Wildfire Resilience Best-Practice Checklist to encourage the use of wildfire resilience best practices in new home construction, renovations and landscaping to reduce the risk of wildfire property damage in wildland urban interface areas of Canada.
2021
Rising Seas and Shifting Sands: Combining Natural and Grey Infrastructure to Protect Canada’s Eastern and Western Coastal Communities
December 2021
Joanna Eyquem
This report outlines the range of practical measures that can be used to protect coastal communities on Canada’s East and West coasts from flooding and erosion. Coastal protection measures include (1) Grey Infrastructure (hard, engineered coastal protection measures); and (2) Nature-Based Solutions (measures that depend on, or mimic, natural systems to manage flood and erosion risk).
Climate Change and the Preparedness of 16 Major Canadian Cities to Limit Flood Risk
February 2021
Dr. Blair Feltmate and Marina Moudrak
This report examined the preparedness of 16 major Canadian cites to minimize the negative consequences of current and future floods. It is the intent of this report to provide an informed perspective that will contribute to the alleviation of current and future flood and climate-related risks in Canada.
2020
Institutional Investors Find Alpha In Climate Risk Matrices: Global Survey Finds
December 2020
Natalia Moudrak, Kathryn Bakos, Joanna Eyquem, Hugh O’Reilly, Ashby Monk, Soh Young In
This report that presents results of a global institutional investor survey focused on understanding the methods to assess physical climate risk, the extent of formal training on physical climate risk received by the Boards of Directors, C-Suite officers and portfolio managers, and the utility of Climate Risk Matrices to aid portfolio managers in investment decisions.
Under One Umbrella: Practical Approaches for Reducing Flood Risk in Canada
November 2020
Natalia Moudrak and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report outlines practical approaches to limit flood risk in Canada, summarizing best practices from national guidelines and standards applicable to: Residents, governments, federal government and agencies, architects, developers, home builders, home renovation specialists, insurance brokers, mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, home inspectors, retailers, landscaping professionals, commercial real estate owners/managers, conservation and watershed authorities, environmental not-for-profit organizations, neighbourhood associations, local community groups, local utility companies, institutional investors, and professional regulatory bodies.
Climate Change and the Preparedness of Canadian Provinces and Territories to Limit Flood Risk
August 2020
Dr. Blair Feltmate, Marina Moudrak and Kathryn Bakos
This report examined the preparedness of provincial and territorial governments to minimize the negative consequences of current and future floods. It is the intent of this report to provide an informed perspective that will contribute to the alleviation of current and future flood and climate-related risks in Canada.
Factoring Climate Risk into Financial Valuation
March 2020
Dr. Blair Feltmate, Natalia Moudrak, Kathryn Bakos and Brian Schofield
This report presents a practical means to factor climate change and extreme weather risk into financial valuation consistent with direction of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and Canada’s Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance (EPSF). This report will help institutional managers to guide investments, securities commissions to assess disclosure, and credit rating agencies to measure risk by incorporating the impacts of climate change into business analysis.
2019
Ahead of the Storm: Developing Flood-Resilience Guidance for Canada’s Commercial Real Estate
October 2019
Natalia Moudrak and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report outlines 20 measures that can be implemented by commercial real estate owners and managers to enhance flood-resilience of existing office towers, thereby reducing the potential for property damage, business disruptions and loss of life. Click here for a brochure about the report.
Water on the Rise: Protecting Canadian Homes from the Growing Threat of Flooding
April 2019
Cheryl Evans and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report outlines the key findings of the Home Flood Protection Program to date regarding practical best practices for basement flood protection educators and residents to reduce their flood risk. Click here for an infographic about the report.
Weathering the Storm: Developing a Canadian Standard for Flood-Resilient Existing Communities
January 2019
Natalia Moudrak and Dr. Blair Feltmate
This report outlines a range of solutions that can be deployed practically and cost-effectively within communities to reduce flood risk. It also introduces a new prioritization framework for selecting areas within communities that should be targeted for retrofits. The report will inform the development of a new National Standard of Canada. Click here for an infographic about the report.
2018
Too Small to Fail: Protecting Canadian Communities from Floods
November 2018
Dr. Blair Feltmate and Anna Fluder
This report showcases practical actions that communities and organizations (i.e. municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, conservation authorities) could engage to limit flood risk at a local or community scale.
Combatting Canada’s Rising Flood Costs: Natural infrastructure is an underutilized option
September 2018
Natalia Moudrak and Dr. Blair Feltmate
The key message of the report is Canada cannot afford to lose more natural infrastructure assets, like wetlands and ponds in its overall effort to limit the growing costs of floods, droughts and other natural disasters. Click here for an infographic about the report.
After the Flood: The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health and Lost Time From Work
June 2018
Dana Decent and Dr. Blair Feltmate
The report profiles the results of 100 door-to-door interviews with households in flooded communities, identifying health impacts and financial costs such as lost time from work. Click here for an infographic about the report.
2017
Disaster Risk Reduction Applied to Canadian Residential Housing: Interim Report on the Home Flood Protection Program
November 2017
Dr. Blair Feltmate, Cheryl Evans and Natalia Moudrak
The interim report profiles the fundamental components of the Home Flood Protection Program, and key findings to date regarding the most effective means to engage homeowners in flood protection.
Preventing Disaster Before It Strikes: Developing a Canadian Standard for Flood-Resilient Residential Communities
September 2017
Natalia Moudrak and Dr. Blair Feltmate
The report outlines 20 best practices to design and build new residential communities that are more flood-resilient.
When the Big Storms Hit: the Role of Wetlands to Limit Urban and Rural Flood Damage
July 2017
Natalia Moudrak, Anne-Marie Hutter, and Dr. Blair Feltmate
The report finds that leaving wetlands in their natural state could reduce the financial costs of flooding by nearly 40 per cent.
2016
Climate Change and the Preparedness of Canadian Provinces and Yukon to Limit Potential Flood Damage
October 2016
Dr. Blair Feltmate and Marina Moudrak
A survey of 103 government representatives across 91 provincial and territorial ministries, departments and agencies between December 2015 and April 2016. Surveys focused on the preparedness of provinces and Yukon to limit flood damage relative to current and future major rainfall events.
Alberta Adapts to a Changing Climate
March 2016
Dr. Blair Feltmate
A report prepared for the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC), summarizing outcomes of the Adaptation Leaders’ Round Table Forum held in Edmonton, January 20th.