Flood risk management in Canada

Part of a comprehensive review of flood risk management (FRM) in five mature economies, this report looks at the system in Canada.

As flood risk and economic losses due to flooding continue to increase, public- and private-sector organisations are taking a renewed interest in improving FRM, pursuing cross-sectoral collaborations to improve risk awareness and flood insurance penetration. FRM in Canada is transitioning from a hazard-based to a more risk-based, anticipatory approach, but dependence on structural defences and government disaster assistance continues to be a barrier to reform.

This report identifies and explores existing gaps in FRM, including ineffective flood risk communication, low levels of flood risk awareness and limited insurance take-up.