Intact’s MGA arm and charity division invest $1 million in climate change resilience

Intact Public Entities, the public entities-focused managing general agent (MGA) arm of Intact Financial, and the Intact Foundation are investing $1 million in cities and towns across Canada that are improving their resilience against the impacts of climate change.

The MGA and its parent company’s charity division are providing the funding through Intact’s Municipal Climate Resiliency Grant. The grant will prioritize the following types of projects:

• Shovel-ready projects: greening and natural infrastructure solutions such as wetland restoration to reduce flood risk or vegetation management techniques to create a community fire guard.
• Climate mitigation tools: these could include incentives for homeowners to install sump pumps or fire-retardant roofing.
• Research readiness and feasibility assessments: these could include updating flood and/or wildfire-risk mapping or undertaking a flood or wildfire hazard assessment.
• Awareness and education: these could include distributing home flood and/or wildfire protection materials or creating an online portal for residents to obtain flood-risk information.

“We need to enable municipalities across Canada to build resilient communities together. We're in a unique position to help bring plans to life so we can action change and make a difference,” said Intact Public Entities president Larry Ryan. “We all understand the urgency and these grants will help municipalities to protect people from the impacts of climate change we're experiencing today and build our resilience for the future.”

“Successfully adapting to extreme weather is key to fighting climate change and keeping our communities safe. We need to act urgently to implement adaptation solutions to limit the impacts of otherwise unrelenting extreme weather,” said Intact Foundation chair Diane Flanagan. “It will depend on taking collective actions, and the ability of governments to direct resources and implement proven solutions.”

According to the Intact Foundation, it has supported over 90 projects through climate adaptation grants across Canada, and has committed more than $16 million to support the initiatives.