441-01607 (Environment)

The Government of Canada recognizes the significant loss and hardship residents of British Columbia have suffered due to the 2021 atmospheric river storm and wildfires which caused widespread damage. We remain committed to ensuring that the people of British Columbia, including those in remote and Indigenous communities have the support and resources they need to deal with these challenging situations.

Following a natural disaster, provinces and territories are responsible for the design and delivery of financial assistance to those who are affected. In turn, Public Safety Canada administers the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program on behalf of the Government of Canada. The DFAA program is intended to assist provinces and territories with response and recovery costs that exceed what they might reasonably be expected to bear on their own.

All decisions regarding financial assistance to individuals, small businesses, and local governments affected by a natural disaster are taken by the affected province or territory, and the DFAA sets out which costs will be eligible for cost-sharing with the federal government.

British Columbia submitted requests for financial assistance under the DFAA for the 2021 atmospheric river and fire disasters. To date, the Government of Canada has contributed over $1 billion to British Columbia to support their recovery efforts.

Furthermore, the Government of Canada joined the Government of British Columbia in matching donations to the Canadian Red Cross to support disaster relief and recovery efforts. Through this initiative, the Government of Canada has committed $33,251,399.29 towards 2021 British Columbia Floods Recovery and $4,635,385 towards 2021 British Columbia Wildfires Appeal.

In recognition of the fact that disasters are increasing in frequency and severity across Canada, the Government of Canada recently completed a review of the DFAA to ensure there is an updated, comprehensive system available to provinces and territories for disaster recovery and to support the safety and well-being of Canadians. The modernized DFAA program, set to launch in 2025, will increase focus in improving recovery outcomes, mitigating risk, and building resilience to future disasters in Canada.

The Minister of Indigenous Services would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their interest in emergency recovery and rebuilding in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, and Indigenous and local governments.

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) supports First Nations who have experienced emergencies directly through the Emergency Management Assistance Program, and provides other services in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, and the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society.

Many First Nations communities in British Columbia were significantly impacted by the atmospheric river event in 2021. ISC is providing financial support to these communities for recovery including $27.7 million in funding to date to assess flood risks and mitigate future flooding impacts.

ISC has also worked closely with Lytton First Nation to support recovery efforts following devastating wildfires in 2021. The department has provided over $55 million to date towards recovery projects including recovery staffing, interim community buildings, environmental remediation, and debris removal. All community members who lost homes in Lytton First Nation are in interim housing in their community, while ISC works with the community on plans to rebuild permanent housing.

As the effect of climate change is impacting Canadians, the Government of Canada is committed to effective and efficient responses to wildfire and flooding events to ensure the safety and security of Canadians and is aware of the many issues that can arise from these disasters and disruptions.

Through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), program administered by Public Safety Canada, the Government of Canada helps the provinces and territories with response and recovery costs that exceed their ability to bear on their own in the face of disasters. Due to the increasing costs, and increasing numbers of extreme weather events cause by Climate Changes the Government of Canada recently completed a review of the DFAA. This review aims to ensure there is an updated, comprehensive system available to provinces and territories for disaster recovery and to support the safety and well-being of Canadians.

To address food security issues resulting from natural disasters, the AgriRecovery framework aims to help agricultural producers recover from natural disasters, including wildfire, flooding, and drought. The AgriRecovery framework is part of a suite of federal-provincial-territorial business risk management tools designed to help producers deal with the income and production losses they experience when disasters occur. The AgriRecovery framework aims to mitigate the impact of a disaster and resume production and farming operations as quickly as possible after a natural disaster.

In February 2022, the Governments of British Columbia and Canada announced $228 million in funding through the Canada-BC Flood Recovery Program for Food Security to help farmers return to production and support British Columbia’s food security and agricultural communities following historic flooding in the region. Additionally, in October 2023, after an intense summer of wildfires and drought, the Government of British Columbia launched the 2023 Canada-British Columbia Wildfire and Drought AgriRecovery Initiative that offers as much as $71 million in joint federal-provincial funding to help producers throughout the province return to full operation.

Since 2021, communities in British Columbia (BC) have dealt with successive severe fire and flooding seasons. To help the Province, the Government of Canada has announced over $1.2 billion in DFAA payments to B.C. for both their 2021 flooding and wildfire recovery work so far, and a total of $5 billion was set aside in 2021’s Fall Economic Statement.

The Government of Canada approaches emergency recovery measures considering the needs of people, and the need to mitigate damage from future severe events. The Lytton Creek Fire is an example of an event that was particularly devastating. To help the community rebuild, Minister Sajjan, now Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan) announced over $77 million to support homeowners and business impacted by the wildfires. This included :

•           $64 million, through Infrastructure Canada, to support the rebuilding of Lytton through the construction of net-zero, fire-resistant public buildings,

•           $6 million for the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild program to support insured homeowners who will rebuild within net-zero and fire-resistant standards

•           And $7.2 million to create the Lytton Business Restart program, delivered by PacifiCan, to help small- and medium-sized businesses get back on their feet including Indigenous-owned businesses, and those operated by women, youth and other underrepresented groups.

These programs are designed to promote community resilience as fire-resistant and net-zero homes are more resilient to future fire seasons, highly energy efficient, significantly reduce heating and cooling costs for homeowners, and improve indoor air quality. In addition, these programs aim to promote job creation and local trade.

As the cost of climate change will grow over the years, with more severe fire, flooding, and drought the Government of Canada is committed in reducing emissions. Emissions have decreased by over 8% since 2005 and the Federal Government is committed in achieving net-zero by 2050

The federal government is committed to working with its provincial and local government counterparts to help communities recover and mitigate damage from disasters when they occur. The Government of Canada is further committed to learning and improving preparedness, response, and recovery efforts as Canadians are increasingly faced with wildfires, floods, and other natural hazard events. One only needs to look to this year and the events experienced across the country with flooding, wildfires, and drought as examples of the importance of this continued effort.

Any loss of life from severe weather events and disasters is a tragedy that is mourned by many Canadians. The Government of Canada is committed to help Canadians prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. The above programs and initiatives are a few of the ways that the Government of Canada continues to learn and apply the lessons of adapting to climate change, severe weather events, and to respond to the needs of communities to prevent further loss of life and destruction.