Panel recommends overhaul of Canada’s disaster aid system to confront era of climate change

Canada’s disaster relief program should restrict payments toward repairing or rebuilding structures on floodplains and other high-risk areas, concluded a report by a federal advisory panel released Monday.

The panel found that the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), a cost-sharing program between the federal government and the provinces and territories, had changed little since its introduction in the 1970s. It serves as “de facto insurance” for hurricanes, flooding and other major disasters, with the federal government paying, on average, 82 per cent of eligible recovery costs. That arrangement does little to encourage provinces and municipalities to reduce their exposure to future damages.

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The panel recommended creating a national standard spelling out responsibilities for public and private stakeholders, along with new tracking mechanisms intended to hold each party accountable for improving resilience. A resilience rating system should be introduced to help governments understand current levels of preparedness, along with a new funding program to help pay for improvements. Flood maps could be published online, identifying areas for which DFAA funding will be restricted.

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“We used to have national standards for flood-damage reduction,” he added. “And we had agreements with all provinces and applied these to things like mapping, diking, forecasting, planning and other things. We had these things 30-40 years ago, but they got lost along the way.”