OTTAWA – Canadian cities and towns facing an uphill battle to stave off the effects of climate change will share more than half a billion dollars from a new federal adaptation fund.
The Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation initiative will offer up to $1 million to local governments for projects that upgrade or adjust their infrastructure and natural environment to be more protected from extreme weather events including floods, fires and major storms.
There will be a separate stream of funding with up to $70,000 for municipalities to assess what the impact of their climate adaptation plans will be.
A third stream will help Canada’s local governments train staff to better understand how climate change is affecting operations and services.
Climate change is already battering stretched municipal budgets as they face higher costs for everything from snow clearing, repairing storm damage to repeated flooding.
The $530 million for the program will be doled out over eight years and was funded in the April budget.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2024.
