Building on what Joanna said, what are the financial consequences of the status quo?
The Intact Centre has identified ways to mitigate the physical risks of climate change across specific industry sectors, and the financial impacts those risks pose. As an example, the Intact Centre conducted the study entitled “Treading Water: Impact of Catastrophic Flooding on Canada's Housing Market” to determine if community-level flooding affects Canadian residential real estate and mortgage markets.
A key finding of the report showed that flooding caused a direct impact of, on average, an 8.2% reduction on the sold price of homes, solidifying the material financial impact to the Canadian housing market, a market that is already under-insured due to flooding. Currently 10% of homes are uninsurable in Canada relative to basement flooding.
There need to be strong recommendations to help homeowners help themselves, which then help local communities and national economies at large. To do this, flood risk needs to be transparent, and information needs to be made available to enable people to make their own decisions to protect themselves from all levels of flooding.
On top of the recommendations Joanna has offered, we recommend the following actions.
One, municipalities should distribute the “Three Steps to Cost-Effective Home Flood Protection” infographic to homeowners as a means to lower the risk of basement flooding. I've printed a few of these infographics. If you would like them, I'd be happy to share. This guidance was first launched in the town of Antigonish, and in Antigonish County, in Nova Scotia, about three years ago. Since then, towns across Canada have been including this infographic in property tax assessment mail-outs.
Two, the federal government should link the climate adaptation home rating program to the EnerGuide home energy audits program.
Three, the federal government should update the flood risk maps and ensure they're publicly accessible.
Four, the federal government should develop a flood risk scoring system based on postal code.
By mobilizing action, this would be a material contribution to retaining the equity within Canadian homes and supporting all levels of the Canadian economy.