Canada: New project to strengthen Alberta’s airport infrastructure resilience to climate change

Much of Canada’s trade moves through federal transportation assets, such as major ports, airports, and land border crossings. These assets are vital to the country’s trade and economic competitiveness. In this era of rapidly moving global supply chains, they are part of a transportation system that must be reliable, efficient and resilient to various stressors, including climate and weather.

Mr. Kent Hehr, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, today announced funding that will help us understand how climate change affects federal transportation assets.

Through the Transportation Assets Risk Assessment Program, the Government of Canada is investing over $290,000 in Alberta’s airports to strengthen the transportation system and address the various stressors caused by climate and extreme weather events.

With the funding, Calgary Airport Authority will develop a screening process to evaluate the potential disruptions extreme weather could cause to the daily operations of Calgary International Airport and Springbank Airport.

By funding projects that assess climate risk, the Government of Canada is taking action to protect Canadians and their communities from the effects of climate change while strengthening the resilience of the transportation system.

Quotes

“Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently, causing costly damage in our communities. These disruptions have an impact on Canadians that depend on their roads, airports, and other transportation infrastructure to deliver necessities like food and medicine. The government is supporting research projects that are helping Alberta, and the rest of Canada, build its resilience to the effects of climate change.”

— The Honourable Marc Garneau
Minister of Transport

“From floods to fires, Albertans are all too familiar with the dangerous effects of climate change. Today’s funding from our federal government will help the Calgary International Airport and Springbank Airport to better evaluate and plan for future extreme weather, and build the resilience of our transportation infrastructure.”

— Kent Hehr
Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre

Quick facts

• Climate change and extreme weather events can damage transportation infrastructure such as roads, bridges, rail lines, ports and airports, which can cause costly travel and transport delays, undermining the safety, efficiency, and reliability of our transportation system.

• The Transportation Assets Risk Assessment program funds the assessment of climate risk to provide information to asset owners and operators on what infrastructure components may be vulnerable to climate and weather-related hazards to support investment and asset management planning.