Environment Committee on Feb. 10th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

I call the meeting to order.

Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today is meeting number 24 of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

This meeting is taking place in a hybrid format and is in public. For those in person, please follow the health and safety guidelines on the cards found on your table to prevent audio or feedback incidents.

At the end of the meeting, I'll invite committee members to give instructions to the analysts to draft the report on the electric vehicle availability standard study.

From Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, we have Andrew DeFazio, director, risk management, strategy and products. From the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, we have Trevor Bhupsingh, assistant deputy minister, emergency management and programs branch; and Kenza El Bied, director general, policy and outreach, emergency management branch.

Welcome.

Dear guests, when I put this up, it indicates that you have one minute left to complete your sentence or your thought. Once I turn it over, I would like you to kindly cease talking. You each have five minutes to do opening statements.

Mr. DeFazio, after this little chit-chat, we'll let you have the floor for five full minutes. Thank you.

[Andrew DeFazio, Director, Risk Management, Strategy and Products, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will begin my presentation in French.

I'll conclude in English.

For 80 years, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, has been helping Canadians access housing—in good times and bad. We do this by providing financing solutions, delivering housing programs, and offering trusted housing research and insights. We do all that in partnership with more than 10,000 clients across the housing sector.

As this committee knows, climate change is increasing both the frequency and severity of extreme weather events across Canada. Mitigation and adaptation are essential. CMHC supports these goals by offering financing solutions that incentivize climate-compatible design in new housing construction. For example, nearly 50% of the housing units we backed in 2024 were climate-compatible

We also delivered the successful Canada greener homes loan program. This offered interest-free financing directly to Canadian families to make their homes more energy efficient.

As part of ongoing analysis, we have found that homes in flood-risk areas tend to see slower price growth than homes outside of these areas. We are continuing to study this pattern to better understand why.

At the same time, CMHC is technical adviser to Public Safety for the work on the national flood insurance program. The intent is to protect high-risk households that cannot currently access insurance and to help ensure that homes damaged by extreme weather events can be repaired and remain part of our housing stock, especially now, when Canada has a severe housing shortage.

When it comes to flooding, some residential homes in low- and medium-risk flood areas do have access to flood insurance, but those in high-risk areas don't. Where they do have access, either the insurance coverage isn't adequate to cover losses, or it's simply not affordable. About 10% of households are uninsurable or severely under-insured, yet account for 90% of total flood risk, potentially representing modelled losses of about $1.5 billion per year. When floods happen, families in these homes often have to rely on personal savings, debt, charities and/or government assistance programs such as the disaster financial assistance arrangements.

As technical adviser to Public Safety Canada, CMHC has helped to engage with provinces and territories and partners across the property insurance industry. The insurers have expressed strong support for a national flood insurance program, one that is industry-delivered and government-backed. They also told us the program should be designed so that it is scalable to other extreme weather events and natural catastrophes over time, and that the risks can be transitioned back to industry over time.

Canada is the only G7 country without a public mechanism for managing natural catastrophes. There are lessons we can learn from other countries. Given our federation, with roles at all three levels of government, we need a made-in-Canada model.

CMHC continues to support Public Safety Canada with technical advice as needed to prepare options for the program. Whatever option is chosen, CMHC is committed to helping stand it up.

In the context of the country's current housing and affordability crisis, Canadians cannot endure financial strain to climate events and cannot afford to lose their homes. Ensuring that Canadians have access to affordable and adequate insurance and that communities are resilient will help reduce climate-related hardship and will help maintain a strong housing system for all.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd be happy to answer questions from the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Mr. DeFazio.

We will go forward to you, Mrs. Anstey, for six....

I'm sorry. There is a second witness who will be speaking.

Ms. El Bied, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Kenza El Bied, Director General, Policy and Outreach, Emergency Management Branch, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Thank you, Chair and committee members, for inviting me today.

As you are all aware, extreme weather brought on by climate change is increasing in frequency and severity, costing households and insurers more. Canada faces elevated disaster risk from wildfires, floods and other extreme weather, with mounting losses to homes, businesses and natural areas. We can no longer take a reactive or ad hoc approach to disasters. We need to evolve our approach to emergency management to meet the challenges before us.

It is clear that change is needed so that Canada can better prepare for, mitigate and recover from natural disasters. We need to take a more proactive and whole-of-society approach. That is essential for building community resilience and improving emergency preparedness and coordination in an environment where disasters are increasingly common.

In particular, flooding is Canada's costliest natural hazard, and flood damage continues to increase as a result of climate change, demographic shifts and development in high-risk areas. As such, Public Safety Canada is advancing several initiatives to increase resilience across Canada, including strengthening our ability to prevent, reduce, recover and adapt to flood risks.

The modernized disaster financial assistance arrangements program, launched April 1, 2025, incorporates resilience measures into reconstruction, so that recovery funding lowers future risk instead of recreating it. Building back better has become the standard to avoid repeated losses for places such as the Fraser Valley.

The updated program increases funds available for strategic mitigation through higher federal funding when mitigation investments protect high-risk areas, where future losses are more likely.

Additionally, work toward standing up a national flood insurance program is progressing. That said, it is important to understand the context for overland flooding in Canada. Prior to 2015, Canada did not have an overland flood insurance market. Since then, the market has evolved significantly, and we recognize the progress the insurance industry has made.

At the same time, provinces, territories and municipalities have indicated that coverage is becoming more expensive and often does not fully meet recovery needs. More importantly, the remaining protection gap is concentrated where it matters most. Private overland flood insurance is largely available in low- to medium-risk areas, presenting roughly 10% of overall flood risk. Meanwhile, about 90% of flood risk is concentrated in high-risk areas, where potentially up to one million Canadian households remain unable to obtain adequate coverage.

For Public Safety Canada, this means redoubling our efforts to significantly address the lack of protection for those most at risk, especially as natural disasters become more frequent and severe.

Successfully standing up a national flood insurance program will require a coordinated effort across all levels of government, the insurance industry and Canadian households. Indeed, the insurance industry, provinces and territories are key partners in this work, and they have played important roles in the industry and provincial and territorial task forces working on flood insurance in Canada.

This collaboration has continued, including through recent discussions with Public Safety Canada and our technical partners at CMHC. The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is committed to developing a program that will deliver significant benefits to Canadians while fully considering the interests, expertise and realities on the ground of the insurance sector and the context of the relevant sectors.

In closing, we are committed to ensuring that Canadians are prepared and feel safe and that our communities are resilient in the face of all hazards, including extreme weather events.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Ms. El Bied.

Mrs. Anstey, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Thank you.

Thank you to the witnesses for appearing today.

To the witness from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, you talked a bit about the mitigation and financing for climate-compatible properties. I want to dig into that a little deeper.

When you're doing your research with respect to these programs, is there an understanding of what the increased cost of construction is for some of these recommendations?

[Andrew DeFazio]

I don't have the information on what the increased costs would be. I would say that in terms of having a successful insurance program, we would want to see mitigation at the household level and mitigation in terms of infrastructure. That would help in allowing a greater chance for a successful insurance company, but I don't have any exact costs for what that would look like.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

It's interesting. I've been in this industry for many years. I also spoke with the Canadian builders' association about similar sorts of issues in relation to affordability. One of the concerns is that we could certainly make recommendations around resilience, but affordability needs to be a part of the conversation.

I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on that.

[Andrew DeFazio]

I definitely think affordability needs to be worked into the discussion. Affordability can be looked at in the short term versus the long term. When you look at it long term, making some of those investments for climate mitigation could, over the long term, make construction more affordable by not having to rebuild or renovate because the buildings can withstand climate events.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Yes. I think that's an important part of the conversation, especially given the moment in time we're in right now. We know that Canadians are really pressed in terms of affording properties. I think it would be important for the affordability piece to come into that conversation. I'm curious to know whether you agree with that.

[Andrew DeFazio]

I would say that affordability, of course, is a key tenet of CMHC, as is looking at housing in general, but then it's also finding ways to introduce technologies to help mitigate against climate events and make those more mainstream with the hope that eventually they become more affordable. I would agree that affordability is a key tenet.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Yes.

I come from a part of the country, Newfoundland and Labrador, where construction is sometimes a little different from the conventional in some of the larger centres. When you look at these measures, do you look at the ability for people to access a specific type of building material, for example, or a specific sort of method that would be used on these mitigation measures to make sure that rural parts of the country are included and that it can be effective in all parts of the country as opposed to just larger centres, which may have more access?

[Andrew DeFazio]

I'd just like to specify that in terms of my area of expertise, it's around the insurance product or the reinsurance product, and not necessarily bringing the mitigation pieces into what that would do for construction. With regard to thinking about how that could play out, possibly Public Safety Canada, in terms of policy or program decisions, would be able to provide a bit more insight.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Okay.

When it comes to the insurance piece, if people live in these high-risk areas, would there be a view to saying that numerous insurance claims are...? Would there be a backstop in terms of how many times they could access the public type of insurance if they live in areas that seem to be typically high-risk?

[Andrew DeFazio]

Again, I would refer that to Public Safety Canada around the policy decision of what the government would want the reinsurance parameters to be.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Okay.

When it comes to coastal areas, one thing I often get asked about, and there's certainly some conversation on it in terms of where I live, is relocation. Does this ever factor into some of the conversations you have as you study this?

[Andrew DeFazio]

Again, to clarify our role, as the technical adviser we would work with Public Safety Canada around the policy parameters they would want for the program and would give our advice in terms of operationalizing them. I would say that this would be a question better suited to Public Safety.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Okay.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much.

Mrs. Miedema, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. I'm really excited about this study. My riding is Halifax. We've had a lot of extreme weather events in Halifax over the last number of years. In 2023 we had a wildfire, a flash flood and a hurricane.

I'm really excited about this idea of a national flood program. Could you clarify whether it will include pluvial, fluvial and coastal flooding?

Anyone can answer that.

[Kenza El Bied]

I can take this one, although I won't have a complete answer. We are in the development of this program at the moment. We are still working on the development of the policy.

All the elements you just indicated will be taken into consideration. It's just that we don't know what that will look like.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Okay.

On Halifax harbour in the Bedford Basin, a number of homes get flooded from the two rivers that come down from the harbour and from heavy rain. All three lead to a really high risk for a bunch of houses that have been there for a long time. We were trying to negotiate a buyout program when I was at the City of Halifax. We would use federal dollars, with the co-operation of the province, to buy out these houses, which is an approach...because I'd say these trends are really unaffordable over time.

Even with the national flood program, even with the co-operation of the insurance industry and federal backing, it's all taxpayer dollars. It's all homeowner dollars. We need to be thinking a little more, and I'm wondering if you are thinking more, about prevention, especially when these things are going to happen more often in more places and at worse levels.

I would be really interested to know whether this program will be looking at options for relocation for owners. Do you have any information on that right now?

[Kenza El Bied]

I don't have that exact information. As my colleague indicated in his opening remarks, we have been engaging with provinces and territories—PTs—and industry, collecting the information to provide those policy perimeters and to develop the policy objective for this program. I really hear your point.

The other thing I would add is that there are other programs that would be available at the same time, in addition to the flood insurance. For example, Public Safety Canada is advancing the flood finder, which will be a portal that will educate Canadians to see whether they are living in a high-risk area or whether their homes could be subject to flooding in the future. That will help them to take the right actions to address that. Then there are the disaster financial assistance arrangements. When there is a big disaster or a big flood event happening, the department will work with the provinces and territories to address that so that homeowners will have access to some solutions on that front.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you.

Are there early indications, in working with the insurance sector on this program, that they would be supportive of building back better—that whole theory—as part of the program, and not necessarily just building back at the same place?

[Kenza El Bied]

The answer is yes. We heard from industry that it's creating a resilience program. Building back better is very important for them too.