Schedule 3: Disaster resilience enhancements
Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements Guidelines

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Purpose

The purpose of this Schedule is to outline how the restoration of damaged physical structures under Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) Streams 2 and 3Footnote 1 can include disaster resilience enhancements to reduce risk to future hazards.

Policy intent

The intent of disaster resilience enhancements under the DFAA is to lessen the impact of future hazards on people and communities, prevent recurrent losses, and ultimately reduce long-term disaster costs. Building back better is a guiding principle of the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and a priority of Canada's Emergency Management Strategy, which notes that "the reconstruction phase of disaster recovery [is] a critical opportunity to rebuild communities with an overall goal of reducing the vulnerability to future hazards"Footnote 2.

To support this intent, disaster resilience enhancements in the DFAA program enable and empower communities to rebuild beyond what is required by current standards, codes, and bylaws to reduce future risk. As there is often a lag time involved in updating the national and provincial/territorial building codes to include the latest guidance on improving disaster resilience, the DFAA supports the application of evidence-based disaster resilience enhancements so that opportunities for building back better after a disaster are not missed.

Building back better

In Stream 2 and 3, all eligible damaged physical assets can access disaster resilience enhancement funding that is proportional to the level of damage to reduce the future risk to that asset. This additional funding is up to 15% of the cost to restore the asset to standard replacement value and is submitted under Stream 2 and 3.

The disaster resilience enhancement funding can be used for any risk reduction measure from the List of disaster resilience guidelines (found at the end of this Schedule) that reduces future natural hazard risk faced by the asset. The list of eligible disaster resilience guidelines will be updated periodically as new guidelines are developed. It is incumbent on provinces/territories to communicate the array of acceptable guidelines, or activities contained therein, to the appropriate authorities and communities of practice in their jurisdiction, and have processes in place to apply the resilience funding in accordance with this Schedule.

Implementation

Expenses for disaster resilience enhancements (up to 15% of standard replacement value) must be included in Stream 2 or 3 first as a regular DFAA expense, up to the established limit. Resilience enhancements that exceed that amount can be submitted in Stream 5 as strategic mitigation, as described in the DFAA Guidelines.

For reporting purposes, provinces/territories will need a mechanism to track the amount of disaster resilience enhancement funding spent (see DFAA Guidelines Schedule 5).

Uptake of the disaster resilient enhancements, as tracked through DFAA reporting, is also connected to additional funding under the Disaster Risk Reduction Incentive, see Schedule 4 for additional details.

Incorporating resilience into building requirements

As per the DFAA Guidelines' broad definition of standard replacement value, any resilience measure that is "required by applicable federal, provincial/territorial, and local codes, bylaws, and standards" becomes a regular expense, and does not use up the 15% disaster resilience enhancements. For example, if a local bylaw requires rebuilt homes to put in certain flood resilience measures (if and when appropriate for the asset), the cost for that is a regular DFAA expense under Stream 2, and the home still has access to the 15% on top of the total standard replacement value for additional resilience measures. This definition is designed to incentivize all levels of government to employ more rigorous resilience requirements into standard building practices.

Adding disaster resilience guidelines

Public Safety Canada will regularly update the List of disaster resilience guidelines and specific resiliency measures with input from provinces/territories, the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, the National Research Council, and the Standards Council of Canada to stay current as building sciences and resiliency guidance continue to evolve.

Provinces/territories are encouraged to submit disaster resilience guidelines in use in their jurisdictions for consideration by Public Safety Canada. To be considered for inclusion in the List of disaster resilience guidelines, guidelines should:

  1. Be specific for type of hazard being mitigated. For flooding, this would include specific flood-generating mechanisms
  2. Be specific for the particular asset class it is being applied to (i.e., certain mitigation actions may be appropriate for a hospital or critical infrastructure, but may not be necessary for recreational spaces)
  3. Be generally and/or widely applicable (e.g., it is guidance generally appropriate for most homes)
  4. Include cost-effectiveness as a consideration
  5. Be certified/reviewed/issued by an appropriate authority

Examples of disaster resilience enhancements in the DFAA

Example A: Damaged storm water pipe

A storm water pipe in a flooded neighbourhood is damaged, and repairs to standard replacement value are estimated at $4M. While the current pipe size remains to code, it is determined, in accordance with disaster resilience guideline "X" in the List of disaster resilience guidelines, that increasing the diameter of the stormwater pipe will reduce the risk of flooding in the future during extreme rainfall events. The cost to repair the stormwater pipe with one of a larger diameter is estimated at $5M. The total eligible cost under Stream 3 of the DFAA for this project, capped at 15% of standard replacement value, will be $4.6M. The balance of $0.4M can be claimed under Stream 5.

Example B: Relocation

A home suffers significant damage in a flood. The estimated cost to repair to standard replacement value is $180,000. In this case, the responsible authority is working with the homeowner to relocate, given the extreme flood risk at the site. The eligible costs for this relocation under Stream 2 would be $207,000 ($180,000 + 15%). Additional funds to top up the costs of relocating beyond this amount could be sought from Stream 5, as long as the full eligible costs ($207,000) were first submitted to Stream 2.

Example C: Unsafe structure

A building owned and operated by a qualifying small business was not directly damaged by a coastal storm, but as a direct result of the disaster, the building is deemed unsafe by a suitably qualified professional due to its proximity to a newly eroded cliff. The standard replacement value (e.g., estimated cost to rebuild or relocate the building to safety on site) is estimated at $140,000. As a part of this project, the building's resilience is increased according to disaster resilience guidelines, and the total eligible cost is $161,000 ($140,000 + 15%).

Example D: A flood in the wildland urban interface

A qualifying small business has suffered significant flood damage and is being rebuilt. Given the town's location in the wildland urban interface, the local municipality has recently brought in a bylaw requiring new construction and rebuilds to be built in accordance with FireSmart. Because it is required by a local bylaw, building with this increased resilience does not use up the additional 15% resilience funding, which is then applied towards the cost of flood protection measures on the property.

List of disaster resilience guidelines

See below for the current List of disaster resilience guidelines. Public Safety Canada intends to update this List on a regular basis.

Guidelines

Climate-Resilient Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure

FireSmart Canada

First Nations National Building Officers Association

Government of Manitoba

Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation

National Research Council Canada

Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium

Codes and standards

CSA Group

National Research Council Canada

Standards Council of Canada

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Canada

All the standards listed below are available on the “UL Standards and Engagement” website of Underwriters Laboratories Canada (ULC or UL Canada).

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Stream 2 includes homes, structures essential to small businesses, non-profits organizations, charities, and community organizations; Stream 3 includes public spaces and infrastructure.

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Footnote 2

Emergency Management Strategy for Canada 2019.

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