How the DFAA program works (beginning April 1, 2025)
For eligible disasters beginning April 1, 2025

On this page

• Who can request funding under the DFAA
• Making a request for funding under the DFAA
• What's eligible for cost-sharing
• Payments
• Cost-sharing

Who can request funding under the DFAA

Provincial and territorial governments are the sole eligible recipients of funding under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) and, therefore, no other applicants can apply directly to the DFAA for funding. In other words, the DFAA program does not provide funding directly to people or communities. Provinces and territories have their own disaster financial assistance programs that provide direct support to communities and the DFAA program cost-shares eligible provincial or territorial expenses.

Making a request for funding under the DFAA

Provinces and territories request financial assistance under the DFAA within six months of the end date of the eligible disaster. The request takes the form of a letter from the Premier of the province or territory to the Prime Minister or from the provincial or territorial Minister responsible for emergency preparedness to the federal Minister.

Learn more about Application Requirements and Assessment.

What's eligible for cost-sharing

For eligible disasters occurring on or after April 1, 2025, eligible provincial or territorial expenses are divided into five funding streams:

• Response
• Homes and Small Businesses
• Restoring Resilient Infrastructure
• Relief and Recovery Supports
• Disaster Mitigation

In addition to the funding streams, the DFAA program includes a financial incentive, the Disaster Risk Reduction Incentive, valued at up to 40% of the Program’s financial threshold.

Funding stream 1: Response

The Response funding stream is designed to enable effective response. It reimburses provinces and territories for activities undertaken in the lead up to and during an eligible disaster that focus on life safety, ensuring essential needs are met, stabilizing the incident, and limiting damage.

Funding stream 2: Homes and Small Businesses

The Homes and Small Businesses funding stream reimburses provinces and territories for supports that they provide for individuals/households, small businesses, non-profits, charities, and other community organizations for uninsurable damage and to meet their essential needs. Types of eligible expenses cost-shared under this stream could include those related to evacuation, displacement, and the restoration (rebuilding, repair, replacement etc.) of uninsurable damaged structures and assets. In this Stream provinces and territories can access an additional 15% in disaster resilience enhancements to help ensure damaged structures and assets are built back better following a disaster.

Note: Provinces and territories are responsible for designing and delivering disaster financial assistance to individuals, households, small businesses and organizations in their jurisdictions, and these programs should be consulted for specific eligibility questions.

Funding stream 3: Restoring Resilient Infrastructure

The Restoring Resilient Infrastructure funding stream reimburses provinces and territories for the restoration of essential public assets and services to a functional state and helps accelerate the restoration of infrastructure that is more resilient to future disasters. In this Stream provinces and territories can access an additional 15% in disaster resilience enhancements to help ensure damaged public infrastructure and assets are built back better following a disaster.

Funding stream 4: Relief and Recovery supports

The Relief and Recovery Supports funding stream reimburses provinces and territories for disaster relief supports and services for people experiencing significant disaster impacts, helps reduce barriers for people to access relief and recovery assistance, and supports recovery planning. Types of eligible expenses cost-shared under this stream could include supports such as mental health and psychosocial supports, financial counselling, other targeted services to populations experiencing significant disaster impacts, and temporary housing for longer-term displacement.

Funding stream 5: Disaster Mitigation

The Disaster Mitigation funding stream is designed to accelerate strategic disaster mitigation and disaster risk reduction in affected areas. It reimburses provinces and territories for activities that help to reduce the highest risks in the disaster-affected area. Activities in this stream can include a wide array of structural, non-structural, or natural infrastructure projects as well as community programs that help reduce risk to natural hazards.

Funding for Disaster Risk Reduction Incentive

Provinces and territories that undertake high-impact activities, as determined by Public Safety Canada, to reduce disaster risk in advance of a disaster may be eligible for a financial incentive based on a portion of their pre-threshold eligible expenses during an eligible disaster.

The Disaster Risk Reduction Incentive aims to recognize the importance of pre-disaster investments that reduce disaster response and recovery costs and lessen the impacts of disasters on people, businesses, and communities.

Find out more about the Disaster Risk Reduction Incentive.

Payments

The DFAA program is designed to work with provincial and territorial disaster financial assistance programs to allow timely and effective response, relief, and recovery, and to help accelerate investments in disaster risk reduction and strategic mitigation to reduce the impact of future disasters.

A province or territory may request Government of Canada disaster financial assistance when eligible expenditures exceed an established initial threshold based on provincial or territorial population.

Once the Government of Canada approves a disaster under the DFAA, a request for payment is processed immediately after the provincial or territorial expenditures documentation is received and reviewed by Public Safety Canada.

Advance and progress payments

An advance payment is available early on in the DFAA claim and is designed to be easily accessed to provide provinces and territories financial support in managing the initial costs of the disaster. Progress payments based on actual expenses are available once the advance payment amount is used up. Provincial or territorial requests for advance and progress payments are subject to a federal risk assessment to ensure that cost-sharing is provided according to the DFAA Guidelines.

Final payments

Final payments are made to close out the final claim.

Provinces and territories have five years to submit a final request for payment to the Government of Canada, and can request a further extension. The five years recognizes the amount of time that can be required for provinces and territories to complete the delivery of their own recovery programs and prepare the documentation required for the federal government's review.

Once received, the federal government may complete an assurance activity on the final payment request prior to the issuance of the final payment, as per the DFAA Guidelines.

Cost-sharing

A province or territory may request Government of Canada disaster financial assistance through the DFAA when eligible expenditures exceed an established initial threshold based on provincial or territorial population.

Starting April 1, 2025, the financial threshold for all new disaster events is defined as the point at which a province or territory’s eligible expenses incurred for Funding Streams 1-4 exceed $3.84 per capita of the provincial/territorial population.

The per capita cost is adjusted annually for inflation and based on annual population data estimated by Statistics Canada.

Cost-sharing formula beginning April 1, 2025

Once the threshold is exceeded, the federal share of eligible expenses is determined according to the Streams, as outlined in Table 2.

In addition to the funding streams, the DFAA program includes a financial incentive, the Disaster Risk Reduction Incentive, valued at up to 40% the Program’s financial threshold, based on a defined set of risk reduction actions taken prior to the disaster.

Date modified:

2025-05-06