Opened: January 2024
Introduction
This initiative is a collaborative effort led by Public Safety Canada and supported by Statistics Canada to create a national digital resource to inform Canadians of their flood risk and provide information to help Canadians better prepare for and mitigate against the impacts of flooding. This resource may be expanded in the future to include multi-hazard awareness for other natural disasters.
Flooding is Canada's costliest natural disaster. The average annual residential flooding costs in Canada are estimated at $2.9 billion (Canada's Task Force on Flood Insurance and Relocation, 2022). In addition, research has shown that a significant number of Canadians located in high-risk flood areas are not aware of their home or property being at risk, and therefore exposed to possible flooding events with potentially devastating consequences.
To address these issues, a national digital resource will be created that will:
- Inform Canadians of their residential flood risk by enabling users to search for tailored flood risk information specific to their property and community using their location details.
- Inform Canadians about flood risk reduction measures and encourage actions to improve overall flood preparedness and resiliency at the property and community levels.
Consultative engagement objectives
Statistics Canada will conduct research on behalf of Public Safety Canada to inform the creation and design of the new national digital resource.
Public Safety Canada is committed to creating resources that meet the needs of Canadians. Input from participants across the country will help ensure that new resources, such as the one related to this study, are informative, user-friendly, and helpful for all Canadians!
If you have personally experienced a recent flooding event in the past 5 years or live in an area at a higher risk of flooding for which you have had to prepare a home or property, we invite you to share facts about your experience. Your participation in this study is important to ensure the new national digital resource will meet the needs of Canadians.
If you have not personally experienced a flooding event or flood risk in your home or community in the past 5 years, but you know someone that has, please share this initiative with them.
How to get involved
If you wish to participate or obtain more information on this study, please contact us at statcan.ux-eu.statcan@statcan.gc.ca.
Statistics Canada is committed to respecting the privacy of participants. All personal information created, held or collected by the agency is protected by the Privacy Act. For more information on Statistics Canada's privacy policies, please consult the Privacy notice.
Reference
Canada's Task Force on Flood Insurance and Relocation (2022). Adapting to rising flood risk: An analysis of insurance solutions for Canada Public Safety Canada.