Paying for Urban Infrastructure Adaptation in Canada: An Analysis of Existing and Potential Economic Instruments for Local Governments
2019 – SFU Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT)
This report updates and supplements ACT’s 2015 report Paying for Urban Infrastructure Adaptation in Canada: An Analysis of Existing and Potential Economic Instruments for Local Governments. While governments of all levels have made significant progress in adapting to climate change, action across Canada still does not sufficiently address the growing risks that climate change poses. Since 2015, as the need for adaptation to the current and projected impacts of climate change has become more evident, governments at all levels across Canada have made greater use of various tools to fund and finance infrastructure adaptation. Legislative changes and support from provincial and federal levels of government have led to the emergence of new tools and sources of funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation (emissions reduction). For example, since 2015 several tools have emerged in Canada with the potential to leverage private financing to support infrastructure adaptation.
This report provides descriptions and examples of new and emerging tools, as well as existing tools that have experienced recent uptake in Canadian communities. It also highlights opportunities and examples of tools that have the potential to support the integration of adaptation and mitigation (emissions reduction). It concludes with a set of recommendations for municipal, provincial, federal, and Indigenous governments, suggesting that they reduce legislative and administrative barriers to funding infrastructure adaptation; increase adaptation funding where available; and seize opportunities to create and employ funding and financing tools that support an LCR approach, helping governments realize adaptation and mitigation goals simultaneously.
Go to Resource: Update-Paying-for-Urban-Infrastructure-In-Canada
Keywords: Canada, Community adaptation planning, Socioeconomic impact