Report: Treading water: Impact of catastrophic flooding on Canada’s housing market

This study examined whether catastrophic flooding affects Canadian residential real estate (house sold price, days on market, number of listings) and mortgage markets (arrears and deferrals). The most costly impact of climate change affecting Canadians is residential basement flooding, that is often made worse through poor land-use planning and management. The primary audience to which findings of this report bear direct relevance includes homeowners, mortgage providers, municipalities and financial regulators.

The paper concludes that in December 2020, as part of its strengthened climate plan, the Government of Canada committed to develop Canada’s first National Adaptation Strategy with provincial, territorial and municipal governments, Indigenous Peoples, and other key partners. A key directive of the strategy is to identify key priorities to unite actors across Canada through shared priorities, cohesive action, and a whole-of-Canada approach to reducing climate change risks.