Canada’s latest building codes don’t account for more severe climate
Ottawa is being irresponsible for not hastening the adoption of construction standards that would make new homes more resilient to the harsher climate, the insurance industry says, after a year when severe weather events caused billions of dollars in damage claims.
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The latest version of Canada’s National Building Code doesn’t take the more severe climate into account. And it might take until 2030 for the next edition to be implemented by provinces and territories.
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“Waiting a decade to build new homes that are resilient to floods, wildfires and windstorms is simply not responsible government,” Craig Stewart, vice-president of climate change and federal issues at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said in an interview.
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Citing recent weather disasters, such as the 2021 heat dome in British Columbia that was linked to more than 600 deaths, Laurel Collins, the NDP critic for environment and climate change, said Ottawa needs to take more concrete steps to update construction standards.
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