Environment Committee on Feb. 26th, 2026

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

I think in your previous research you've looked at the importance of building codes. I'm wondering if you can comment on national building codes and maybe some guidance for provinces and territories. Maybe you could quickly comment on the role of building codes.

[Gary Martin]

Building codes can only do so much. They're kind of ponderous. They're slow to change. There's considerable resistance from industry. They're minimum codes. They'll only give you the least you can do without going to jail. They are necessary. They must change. They're absolutely essential in bringing the building industry up to speed on adaptation and mitigation, but they can only do so much.

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

Thank you.

I'll pass my time to my colleague.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Martin.

I'm a British Columbia MP, and one of the biggest disasters we've had has been the floods in Fraser Valley. That cost billions of dollars. It has happened twice in the last six years. The source of that water is the United States. What are we going to do to prevent the United States from flooding our cities and our country? What can be done?

[Gary Martin]

That's a great question. I know it's a question that perturbs people across the country. I don't know if I have an answer for that. It requires partners across the border to understand mutual benefit, I suppose. It requires the right arguments. It requires the right politics. It's a political decision, essentially, of who to protect and if they don't....

The Abbotsford floods were caused by the Nooksack River overflowing its banks. My understanding is that Washington state did some work to widen the banks south of the border, which actually funnelled water north of the border—I'm not clear on this. Unless we can communicate with them clearly and get them to understand risk....

Water doesn't respect borders. Political borders are completely moot to water. I think this is a lesson across Canada, too.

I don't have a good answer to your question, sir. I'm sorry.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

My understanding is the Government of British Columbia and the federal government have done a lot of diking in the Abbotsford-Chilliwack area, but we have great difficulty dealing with the government on the other side of the border. They just ignore us. This is a sad reality that is causing billions of dollars of damage.

Do the municipalities have enough sources and information to prevent building in low water zones, low flood water zones? That's one of the other areas that affected both Chilliwack and Abbotsford.

[Gary Martin]

We have to tie climate change projections into flood mapping. It's essential across the country. We know that. You've heard this. This committee has heard that repeatedly over the past four sessions. Until we understand where the flood zones are, we can't keep people out of them.

My topic today was water management organizations across Canada. Those organizations are absolutely essential and have to be tied into the broader strategy. That's why I'm asking the federal government for a strategy to think watershed by watershed across the country.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

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]

Mr. Boudreault, I would first like to congratulate you on the launch of your research chair. That's something to be proud of. This is a very relevant research topic, as we can see as we carry out our study.

You said that insured losses have increased by 6% per year for 30 years, which is higher than inflation. Do you think a portion of the increase is directly attributable to climate change?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

Absolutely.

There are a lot of things that contribute to the increase. First, inflation in construction is often faster or higher than inflation in the basic market basket. Second, rapid urbanization, aging infrastructure and climate change are the main contributors to the rising costs identified in the documentation.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Do we know what portion of the increase is attributable to climate change?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

Out of the 6% yearly increase, I would say that between 1% and 1.5% is due to climate change.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Okay.

You say that we need to invest much more in adaptation, because current investments are weak. Are you saying that the federal government's investments in adaptation are insufficient?

By how much do you think should be increased to seriously address the issue?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

When I say that investments are weak, I am mainly relying on what was pointed out by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which estimates that about $5 billion a year should be invested in municipal infrastructure adaptation. This can be compared to investments made in the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, or DMAF, for example.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You think the federal government should invest more in adaptation.

[Mathieu Boudreault]

Absolutely. We must also not lose sight of greenhouse gas reduction initiatives. The current problem has several sources, but we also need to keep talking about reducing our emissions. Our current adaptation problem could persist into the future if we don't reduce the incidence, frequency and severity of natural disasters.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Do you agree that we need a quick, planned off-ramp from fossil fuels to reduce climate risks?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

Yes, to ensure that we control the frequency and severity of climate events in the long term, moving away from fossil fuels is something we need to do.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Would you be in favour of a tax on oil and gas companies' windfall profits, for example, so that that money could be invested in underfunded adaptation measures?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

Taxing emitters to set up an adaptation fund is one idea, but economic incentives are also needed to reduce emissions at the source, targeting both consumers or polluters.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You said that the federal government was considering a Canadian flood insurance program, but that there were legitimate questions about the viability of a public-private partnership.

Could you come back to that?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

Yes. It's actually based on international experience. I spoke briefly about the French system, the British system and the American system, which are under pressure. After all, there have been systems for sharing financial risks, so public-private partnerships, in France, the United Kingdom and the United States for several decades. The systems in all three countries are under pressure. As I mentioned, France increased the tax to fund its program, as did the United Kingdom. In all cases, costs need to be controlled. As a result, it makes sense to learn from international experience to establish a Canadian insurance program here that is viable in the long term.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You talked about the risks of capping insurance premiums for low-income households. Do you think it should apply only to low-income households or to the middle class as well? Is aid applied on a sliding scale?

[Mathieu Boudreault]

There is definitely a sliding scale. The takeaway from my remarks is that, at first glance, when there is a cost-sharing system between the public and the private sector in which the real cost of climate risks is masked, such as flood risks, for example, that can indirectly encourage long-term risk-taking.