The government of Canada is moving forward with a plan to better facilitate private residential insurance for overland flooding. A second call has been launched for proposals for the National Disaster Mitigation Program, which will develop the chosen project with a $60-million budget over the next two years.
The NDMP, which was established in April 2015, is a provincial and territory support program for creating high-level and community defences against catastrophic loss due to flood. Through chosen projects and $200 million in funding over the next five years, the program is designed to:
- Reduce flood-related risks and losses for regions by assessing their individual flood risks, creating flood maps, and developing mitigation plans for high-risk areas.
- Introduce a residential flood insurance market in Canada
- Collect disaster risk info in partnership with provinces and territories in order to better inform investments in flood mitigation measures and infrastructure
- Facilitate knowledge sharing across emergency management stakeholders
As severe weather and natural disasters become increasingly prevalent, overland flooding poses a particularly costly risk. It was estimated the 2013 southern Alberta floods were the costliest flood-related catastrophe in Canadian history, with provincial and general governments spending $5 billion to recover and rebuild. According to the Alberta government, governments have spent $553 million in operating and $40 million in capital spending, including over $425 million in Disaster Recovery Program funding, since February 2014.
