Environment Committee on Feb. 10th, 2026

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Yes, that's what we heard in some previous witness testimony also. That's great to hear.

I'm also wondering this: When you're thinking about the program, how are you factoring in the risk and the changing risk over time? At the City of Halifax, we spent more than a quarter of a million dollars just to do updated, really detailed flood mapping using bathymetric and terrestrial lidar, and the whole thing took years. We had a consultant on board for a long time just to get that data, which was a snapshot in time, and then there was the whole issue of sharing the data. What's the thinking around providing the data for people's homes across this country, the perception that it'll decrease property values and how do you manage that whole conversation?

[Kenza El Bied]

Thank you for the question. On that, I would say the answer is on two fronts. As I indicated, Public Safety Canada is developing the flood finder portal, where Canadians will see whether their homes are located in a high-risk area and what tools would be available for them to address that, on one hand. On the other hand, we will be working with partners on a communications strategy. Working with provinces and territories will be very important to addressing that because, in some jurisdictions, they have their own mapping, and we need to make sure they have complementary information.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

The insurers have their own mapping also, a whole different set.

[Kenza El Bied]

Yes, indeed.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

When do you think the portal will be finished and live?

[Kenza El Bied]

I don't have the exact timing, but it will be very soon. I would say it's in the near future. We are finalizing some work. I don't have the exact timeline, but we are doing our best to make it available to all Canadians.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

What's the level of detail of the information that will be in the flood portal? Is it at the homeowner site level, or is it at a different scale from that?

[Kenza El Bied]

It will be at the homeowner.... As a citizen, I can enter my home address, and then I will see all the information related to that.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

I think my time is up. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Mr. Bonin, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the officials from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness for joining us. I was actually fortunate enough, in the early 2000s, to attend a few weeks of training in safety and crisis management in Arnprior. I'm grateful for that.

Ms. El Bied, I would like to hear what you have to say about the advances. You talked about evolving the emergency management approach. You talked about the need for a more proactive approach. What do you mean by that?

[Kenza El Bied]

The emergency measures system has existed in its current form for a long time. I'm sorry, but I'll use an English term.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

That's fine; I have access to interpretation.

[Kenza El Bied]

It's status quo.

However, I think the time has come for Canada to take different approaches and modernize the emergency measures system. We need to make sure we have programs in place to prevent certain situations rather than always reacting to them. So it's really a matter of preparing and ensuring that we have the capacity to respond to a particular situation rather than just reacting when the situation arises.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

If I'm not mistaken, Canada's national disaster mitigation strategy seems to date back to 2022. Is that correct? When do you think you will have a new strategy?

[Kenza El Bied]

You're absolutely right, and the strategy is in a position to be renewed.

Since November, we have been engaged in the renewal process for the emergency measures strategy, which includes working with the provinces and territories, the entire federal government family and external partners. The process has already begun, and we expect to complete it by the fall.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You're saying by the fall. Okay.

You mentioned that work on the national flood insurance program was progressing. Can you remind us when the development of this national flood insurance program began? Can you tell us when we might have the program?

[Kenza El Bied]

Sure. The program started about two or three years ago. However, it was under—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Hasn't it been longer than that?

[Kenza El Bied]

I joined the Department of Public Safety in 2023.

Commitments have been made in the past. So the conversation on the subject probably started more than three years ago, but I would say that the work itself started in the last three to four years. It was under the previous government. The current government put it in its platform as a very important issue to move forward, and we're working on it right now. This is a complex issue. It's going to be very difficult for me to give you an exact date, but I can tell you that it's one of the priorities—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Will we have it in five years, in 10 years?

[Kenza El Bied]

I hope not. In five or 10 years, I will already be retired. I don't want that; I want to be part of it.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Realistically, you could, by pushing the machine—

[Kenza El Bied]

By pushing the machine….

I can tell you about the process in general, but I can't give you an exact date for the finalization of the program. However, we are in the process of moving it forward.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I understand that there's a political aspect to your work, but, in order to come up with a strategy, roughly how much time do you need for the program?