By Canadian Press

Provinces not moving fast enough to assess, mitigate flood risk: report

Aug 6, 2020 | 6:03 AM

OTTAWA — A new report says provincial governments are not moving fast enough to protect homes and other buildings from the ravages of flooding.

The report from the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo says on average provincial governments get a grade of C for flood preparedness.

Centre chair Blair Feltmate says that is an improvement from a C-minus in a similar report four years ago but it’s not enough progress when climate change is bringing bigger flood risks every year.

Feltmate says provincial governments should be updating their flood maps every five to seven years but Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province that has fully updated its river, coastal and rainfall risk maps since 2015.

British Columbia and Saskatchewan haven’t updated their flood maps in more than two decades.

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Many provinces don’t have any regulations preventing new developments from going up in high flood-risk spots, and several also haven’t done much to assess and protect critical buildings like hospitals and schools.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2020.

The Canadian Press