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B.C. enhances local climate preparedness, disaster mitigation

June 22, 2023, British Columbia – The B.C. government is providing funding for nine community risk-reduction and climate-adaptation projects to help communities better prepare for climate-related emergencies and keep people safe.

Approximately $2.3 million through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) has been committed to local governments and First Nations projects throughout B.C. under the Climate Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream. The funds will help communities reduce risks from climate-related emergencies, such as floods and extreme heat. It also supports the Province’s Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy, which outlines a broad range of actions for 2022-25 to address climate impacts and build resilience throughout B.C.

The funding may be used toward:

• Risk mapping, risk assessments and planning (such as the development of a hazard map);
• Land-use planning (amendments to relevant plans, bylaws or policies);
• Purchasing equipment (such as monitoring equipment);
• Delivering community education; and
• Small-scale structural projects.

The funding will go toward projects throughout B.C., including:

• Designing and implementing shoreline protection measures at Spanish Banks and Vanier Park in the Vancouver region, which will increase resilience to rising sea levels, extreme weather and wave events;
• Planning and designing structural flood-mitigation measures on Bessette Creek in the Village of Lumby;
• Developing a detailed engineering design for improvements to the Cache Creek Corridor and updating the official community plan to include flood plain mapping and creation of a flood plain bylaw in Cache Creek;
• Installing a cooling system at the local recreation centre in the Village of Sayward to be used during extreme heat events; and
• Climate change and hazard risk assessments looking at impacts that hazard events will have on people in the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation.

The CEPF is administered through the Union of BC Municipalities and supports projects that strengthen the resilience of local governments and First Nations in responding to and preparing for natural disasters and climate change.

In February 2023, the province provided $180 million to CEPF, bringing the total provincial investment in the program to $369 million since its establishment in 2017. More than $118 million has been provided to local governments and First Nations through CEPF for nearly 1,500 projects that help communities mitigate and prepare for disasters and climate-related emergencies.

In response to the growing number of climate-related emergencies in B.C., the province also launched ClimateReadyBC, which provides hazard and mapping tools, risk data and resources to help communities better prepare for disasters and climate emergencies. The next intake for the Climate Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream is open until Oct. 6, 2023.