Environment Committee on Feb. 26th, 2026

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

Can you speak to FCM and a lot of the municipalities that are using other funds for other services? You could think of funds for housing, which we know is an issue right now, or transit or recreation. We have some mayors here today who probably know how funds are used for other services. Can you speak about how some of those funds are being transferred, as the mayor was talking about, to deal with highways that are being washed out or to finance other climate finance resiliency projects?

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

We're seeing a shift in how we approach our own budgeting and community planning. Everything has a climate lens. When we're talking about the asset management of our key infrastructure, we think about what decisions we can make in repairs and replacements that will mitigate the impact of the climate change we see happening.

As you know, local governments cannot run deficits, so we rely heavily on reserves and, to some extent, development cost charges to build out the infrastructure required for new housing. However, in the case of Salmon Arm, we have seen an increase in multi-family housing. We know people want to come here, but we have an aging waste-water infrastructure plant that is vulnerable to a flood or a fire—both our water and our waste water. As we plan to rebuild and repair, we absolutely have to build in adaptation measures to ensure long-term viability so we can continue to help senior orders of government meet their needs.

Help us help you help us, because when we work together, it works a lot better.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

I only have a few seconds remaining.

It's great to see some Newfoundland representation here today. Thanks for your testimony, Mr. Payne.

Very quickly—in 30 seconds—I'm curious about what Newfoundland is doing to help your community.

[Blaine Payne]

Really, nothing has happened down here to help our community. I have never seen it.

Actually, back in 2023, we did get a small grant to protect.... We almost had a graveyard wash out into the ocean, so they issued a small amount. I think it was $16,000 for armour stone to protect that one section of the graveyard.

Besides that, we haven't seen anything to help our issues here in Parson's Pond.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much.

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

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would first like to make a brief aside to my colleagues. I previously gave notice of a motion regarding the schedule, which seemed to pose some issues, but we have received a new schedule. That means the motion will no longer be necessary, and I won't be moving it.

I'll now turn to the representatives of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Thank you for being here. You mentioned that infrastructure costs were increasing by $9 billion per year and that climate change was contributing to that. According to forecasts, this could reach around $14 billion a year.

How much of the increase in costs and infrastructure needs is directly related to climate change, and which warming scenario is being used as a basis?

For example, are forecasts based on the current trajectory, which leads to a warming of 2.7°C, or a scenario in which the temperature would increase by 5°C?

[Leslie Muñoz]

Because I mentioned it quickly, I'll speak to the report that came out.

Essentially, we estimate that about 14% of all of Canada's public infrastructure assets that are municipally owned are in poor or very poor condition. We're going to be updating that number, and I would be happy to distribute the information to the committee. The report is coming out in a couple of months. I'll make sure to send that over to you folks. Using outdated figures, the number is a $294-billion backlog for infrastructure repairs. That speaks to the level of need for funding for a state of good repair. When that amount of infrastructure is in a state of poor condition, it enhances climate risk under any scenario.

In terms of the report I mentioned—I'll circulate information about this after the fact, as well—FCM partnered with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. This report was led by the Canadian Climate Institute. It's called “Prepare or Repair”. The main finding is this: If we were to invest $4 billion in climate adaptation, it would generate about $5 billion to $10 billion in savings. There's a real opportunity here, given the financial impact and financial risk presented by extreme weather, to invest proactively in order to make sure that we're preparing for climate risks and natural hazards—that we're protecting our communities in those ways. It's more affordable to invest in preparing than it is to repair after the fact.

Louise, do you have anything to add?

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

I appreciate that.

I think we were asked to explain how those cost increases are measured. As Ms. Muñoz said, it's actually the infrastructure deficit that we're concerned about, because we have to not only repair existing infrastructure but also adapt it to mitigate the effects of climate change.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Do you have any figures on how climate change has contributed to the increase in infrastructure needs?

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

I'll turn it over to Ms. Muñoz, but we can certainly do the math and get back to you on that.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I would appreciate that.

[Leslie Muñoz]

I'll share the report with you folks and the information centre will share that with you folks.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You said that it will be necessary to modernize the disaster financial assistance arrangements. Can you expand on that?

What do you mean by “modernization”?

What more would be needed in these agreements?

[Leslie Muñoz]

Specifically, what we were talking about is the disaster financial assistance program, essentially the program that's in place to support provinces, territories and municipalities when natural disasters occur.

There has been a modernization process under way. We've monitored that, and we've been supportive of it. Right now we're essentially assessing how it's landing and what the experience is on the ground to make sure that our members are genuinely benefiting and able to access supports they need during that post-recovery process.

Louise, would you like to speak to that?

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

What I would add is that the fund is oversubscribed already.

I know this committee has heard from Spencer Coyne, the mayor of Princeton, and from the mayor who is joining us today. They are from small communities with small planning departments and few employees. We are navigating complex application processes. Really, the general messaging I would like to send—and we are a mid-size community—is that it should be by allocation, not by application because communities of 250 to 300 people simply don't have the infrastructure in place to be applying to these complex funds.

[Leslie Muñoz]

Louise is referring to a program called the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. We've recently learned that the program is being wound down. It has provided funding and has been significantly oversubscribed by municipalities across the country in terms of assistance for disaster mitigation.

We understand that climate adaptation is an eligible expense under the new build communities strong fund, but we are concerned that the fund is not at the pace and scale necessary to truly support communities in preparing for climate risks.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

How many additional billions of dollars do you think it would take?

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

I'm sorry. Thank you. Your time is up.

Mr. Bexte, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for being here today. I appreciate your time and the commitment to share your views and wisdom.

Ms. Richmond, how many of your members have complained about lack of access to updated flood mapping or risk profile mapping?

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

I can tell you that in the southern interior, particularly in small communities, it would be a very high percentage.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Are your member municipalities experiencing pressure from developers to build in high-risk zones? That may be an oxymoronic question if they don't know where the high-risk zones are in the first place. Society has always had a penchant for building close to rivers and lakes, which has been a natural thing, but that poses a risk.

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

Absolutely.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

How much effort do we need to apply to make sure we don't expose ourselves to risk in the first place?

[Louise Wallace Richmond]

My sense is that the conversation has shifted. I can't speak for the entire country because the development regulations are different from province to province. In B.C. there are different standards for hillside development and developing close to water or on wetlands. There seems to be a general understanding that if we're going to build homes and invest in critical infrastructure, we're all duty bound—the development community, the local government community and the residents in the community—to understand our collective impact on that habitat. I would say that has changed a little bit, but I certainly can't speak for large urban centres or other jurisdictions.

Maybe Leslie has something to say on that.