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

What's eligible for cost-sharing

For eligible disasters which occurred before April 1, 2025, the DFAA program is intended to support provinces and territories in:

• providing or reinstating the necessities of life to individuals, including help to repair and restore damaged homes
• re-establishing or maintaining the viability of small businesses and working farms
• repairing, rebuilding, and restoring public works and the essential community services to their pre-disaster capabilities
• funding limited mitigation measures to reduce the future vulnerability of repaired or replaced infrastructure

Examples of provincial and territorial expenses that may be eligible for cost-sharing under the DFAA (before April 1, 2025):

• Evacuation, transportation, emergency food, shelter and clothing
• Emergency provision of essential community services
• Security measures including the removal of valuable assets and hazardous materials from a threatened area
• Repairs to public buildings and related equipment
• Repairs to public infrastructure such as roads and bridges
• Removal of damaged structures constituting a threat to public safety
• Restoration, replacement or repairs to an individual's dwelling (principal residence only)
• Restoration, replacement or repairs to essential personal furnishings, appliances and clothing
• Restoration of small businesses and farmsteads including buildings and equipment
• Costs of damage inspection, appraisal and clean up

Examples of expenses that would NOT be eligible for cost-sharing under the DFAA (before April 1, 2025):

• Repairs to a non-primary dwelling (e.g. cottage or ski chalet)
• Repairs that are eligible for reimbursement through insurance
• Costs that are covered in whole or in part by another government program (e.g. production/crop insurance)
• Normal operating expenses of a government department or agency
• Assistance to large businesses and crown corporations
• Loss of income and economic recovery
• Forest firefighting, except where they pose a threat to built-up areas

Payments

The DFAA program is designed to work with provincial and territorial disaster financial assistance programs to allow timely and effective response, and recovery.

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. The amount cost-shared is determined by an established formula and ranges from 50 to 90 percent of the costs of eligible expenses.

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 interim payments

An advance payment is available in the first 12 months following an eligible disaster to provide provinces and territories financial support in managing the initial costs of the disaster. Interim payments are available annually. Provincial or territorial requests for advance and interim 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 will complete an audit 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 when eligible expenditures exceed an established initial threshold based on provincial or territorial population.

Starting January 1, 2025, the initial threshold for all new disaster events is defined as $3.84 per capita of the provincial population.

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

Cost-sharing formula before April 1, 2025

Once the threshold is exceeded, the federal share of eligible expenses is determined by the formula in Table 2 for disasters that occurred between January 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025.

Date modified:

2025-05-01