MANITOBA CLIMATE RESILIENCE TRAINING PROJECT

About

MCRT – An Initiative of BRACE

The Manitoba Climate Resilience Training (MCRT) Project of the Government of Manitoba is funded through the Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) program of Natural Resources Canada, an initiative of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. BRACE is increasing the ability of communities, organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises and practitioners to access, use, and apply knowledge and tools on climate change adaptation in their daily work. The BRACE program’s main goal is to address one of the critical barriers, currently limiting action to reduce climate change impacts in Canada, which is knowledge and tools and the appropriate capacity to apply them effectively.

The BRACE program’s main goal is to address one of the critical barriers, currently limiting action to reduce climate change impacts in Canada, which is knowledge and tools like a robot tondeuse GPS, and the appropriate capacity to apply them effectively.

BRACE works in partnership with Canada’s provinces and responds to unique, regional climate change adaptation needs and priorities across the country. Projects are delivered by various organizations that are best suited to ensure appropriate target audiences are reached by using a broad range of approaches for building skills and expertise on climate change adaptation.

The BRACE Program is currently in its fourth year of a five-year (2017-2022), $18 million initiative under the Adaptation and Climate Resilience pillar of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

The MCRT Project funded by the BRACE program looks to build the capacity and expertise of professionals (including engineers and planners), Northern Businesses and Indigenous organizations and communities to address risks associated with a changing climate in areas such as land use, water management and infrastructure. The project aims to develop training offerings to help build capacity to integrate adaptation into planning, community engagement and decision making.

What We Do

The Manitoba Climate Resilience Training (MCRT) Project, funded by the BRACE program, aims to create tailored approaches to integrate climate risk and opportunities into decision-making and planning within the Northern Business, Indigenous, Planning, and Infrastructure sectors in Manitoba. Through the project, we will develop and deliver a comprehensive suite of training and capacity building courses or modules that enhance climate knowledge and the uptake of tools and information that promote integrated engagement, networking, and hands-on learning opportunities.

As part of its overall approach, the MCRT Project builds on a scoping phase undertaken in 2018/19. This involved engagement sessions with targeted sectors comprising provincial and professional associations that identified specific training and capacity building needs, gaps and options for knowledge transfer.

Integral to the implementation of this project is the creation of Sector Working Groups (SWGs) that provide guidance, insights, and suggestions on key aspects of the research, framework design, and delivery of the training and capacity building sessions with the targeted sectors as it relates to climate change adaptation and resilience. These SWGs are composed of experts, academics, researchers, organizational leaders, practitioners and government representatives.

This project commenced on October 1, 2020 and runs until March 31, 2022.

INDIGENOUS

Prairie Climate Centre and Turtle Lodge are working together to strengthen the capacity of Indigenous communities & organizations in Manitoba

Our Story

The Prairie Climate Centre has always placed high value to the land based indigenous knowledges that have been a part of these lands for thousands of years. There is a lot that we can learn from the peoples of the land and this has led to many important and reciprocal relationships being formed between indigenous communities, organizations and the Prairie Climate Centre.

Our partnership with the Turtle Lodge is steeped in ceremony and sharing of knowledges in a genuine and meaningful way. This relationship in particular is what has guided our team to develop the Indigenous Sector project with the Manitoba Climate Resilience Training program.

The PCC and Turtle lodge have also co-written “A change of heart’: Indigenous perspectives from the Onjisay Aki Summit on Climate Change.” A testament to true engagement and exchange of knowledges.

What We Do

With a dedicated team of filmmakers and storytellers, we produce a range of video content that explores the lived experiences of Canadians as they navigate the impacts of climate change across a variety of sectors and environmental stressors.

Across a variety of platforms and mediums, our team publishes peer-reviewed articles and research reports that highlight the intersections of geography, climatology, and hydrology in furthering our understanding of how a changing climate will present in different parts of the country.

Our most notable tool is the Climate Atlas of Canada, a data visualization platform that synthesizes vast amounts of climate data in to interactive and easy-to-use maps. In an effort to better communicate the associated risks and science of climate change, the displayed information and reports are available for download.

Community outreach and stakeholder engagement are two pillars in our approach to mainstay climate adaptation in policy, regulation and decision-making processes. Our team has extensive experience with public consultation and draws inspiration from the perspective of others in drafting training courses and workshops.

Climate change affects all our lives.

Earth has warmed by 1 °C in just over 100 years, a change in temperature unparalleled in geologic history. Climatologist Damon Matthews from Concordia University unravels what these changes mean for Canada, which is already warming at more than double the global rate.

1 °C and its impacts: what does climate change mean for Canada?

Our Mission & Approach

With the guidance and leadership from the Turtle Lodge International Center for Indigenous Education and Wellness, the Prairie Climate Centre is co-developing innovative training content and materials that will give communities, individuals and organizations an opportunity to learn about climate change and climate adaptation through the unique perspective of indigenous ways of knowing.

The fundamental ancestral teachings that encompass indigenous ways of knowing are the base that this project is built around. We will also connect Indigenous Knowledges to contemporary methods of research and knowledge so that we may enrich and evolve climate adaptation planning with the knowledges and observations that span thousands of years.

PLANNING

Prairie Climate Centre is working to strengthen the capacity of professional planners and decision-makers in land use, water management and design planning in Manitoba

Our Story

The role of the Planning Sector is to focus on impacts of climate change that are being seen across Manitoba and highlight the role of planners in addressing these impacts. Workshops and training developments will center around the effectiveness of planning tools to address climate risks in both public and private settings. A particular focus will be on the role of land-use, development, watershed management and planning policies in preparing for a changing climate.

The Planning Sector will utilize evidence-based approaches to communicating the science, impacts, and risks of climate change through interactive and detailed mapping tools, documentary films, reports, and accessible training, writing, and outreach methods.

What We Do

With a dedicated team of filmmakers and storytellers, we produce a range of video content that explores the lived experiences of Canadians as they navigate the impacts of climate change across a variety of sectors and environmental stressors.

Across a variety of platforms and mediums, our team publishes peer-reviewed articles and research reports that highlight the intersections of geography, climatology, and hydrology in furthering our understanding of how a changing climate will present in different parts of the country.

Our most notable tool is the Climate Atlas of Canada, a data visualization platform that synthesizes vast amounts of climate data in to interactive and easy-to-use maps. In an effort to better communicate the associated risks and science of climate change, the displayed information and reports are available for download.

Community outreach and stakeholder engagement are two pillars in our approach to mainstay climate adaptation in policy, regulation and decision-making processes. Our team has extensive experience with public consultation and draws inspiration from the perspective of others in drafting training courses and workshops.

Climate change affects all our lives.

The planning community is made up of multiple professions whose roles intersect and often overlap in their efforts to guide Manitoba’s future. Registered professional planners, watershed planners, and landscape architects work alongside wetland restoration specialists, arborists and municipal departments to plan and design healthy communities that are resilient to climatic shifts and are able to maintain civic services.

The city of Selkirk invited the Prairie Climate Centre to participate in the development of their ‘Climate Change Adaptation Strategy’. The resulting document sets out a long-term plan for how the community can be best prepared for future climate scenarios.

Our Mission & Approach

With the support of professional registration bodies, the materials being developed will address the unique challenges faced by practitioners in Manitoba and will count towards continued education credits where applicable. Incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge and the alignment of best practices with watershed mandates and national guidelines will promote a holistic approach that is broadly applicable to the Prairies region.
The planning community is made up of multiple professions whose roles intersect and often overlap in their efforts to guide Manitoba’s future. Registered professional planners, watershed planners, and landscape architects work alongside wetland restoration specialists, arborists and municipal departments to plan and design healthy communities that are resilient to climatic shifts and are able to maintain civic services.

What Our Partners and Stakeholders Have to Say

“There is a need to create tools that are accessible, that a busy practitioner who is juggling all of the demands of their practice can readily reference in conversation with their client about how climate change affects what’s being done today. That’s the real need. Are there things that we need to be mindful of, and are we prepared to address them? The understanding of what are the consequences and how to communicate the costs of not responding are vital to the profession. If all that can be addressed, I think that’s going to foster all kinds of innovation in how we adapt.” – MALA member

NORTHERN BUSINESS

Dillon Consulting is working to strengthen the capacity of the business community in Northern Manitoba

Our Story

The role of the Manitoba Northern Business sector component of the MCRT Project is to tailor capacity building and offer climate resilience training that both highlights the needs of Manitoba northern businesses and industries and provides training and tools to better integrate various types of climate-related adaptive actions into decision-making and planning processes to support increased climate resilience for small and medium enterprise.
The Manitoba Northern Business sector trainings/sessions will feature interactive components that facilitate understanding of climate change as it relates to business operations, staff and logistics, and the importance of tailoring current business operations to identify and adapt to local risks emerging from climate change.

What We Do

Dillon works with organizations to reduce the impacts of climate change. We help teams build the capacities and approaches to identify, understand, and proactively manage their climate impacts and resulting risks to their operations.

Dillon assists organizations in assessing climate risks within both their assets and operations. We’ve completed Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments (CCVA) across multiple sectors (buildings, industrial processes, transportation, agriculture, tourism, water supply and treatment, hydroelectric utilities) for clients across Canada and internationally.

Dillon is also called upon to develop the science-based rationale to support changes in public policy. Our climatologists, meteorologists and professional engineers have developed the scientific rationale needed to support a range of activities, from engineering code changes in snow loads for buildings to evaluating changes in extreme heat events under climate change to support federal changes to reflect needed revisions for defining high heat warnings in government policy.

Dillon’s Climate Resilience Team has developed and delivered training to build capacities and transfer climate change knowledge for professional practitioners in infrastructure and asset management. We’ve developed and delivered tailored climate change resilience training to Engineers Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS), the Climate Risk Institute, World Federation of Engineering Organizations, multiple Indigenous Communities in Canada, Manitoba Green Buildings Coordination Team, the Canadian Standards Association and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.

Climate change affects all of our lives.

Engineers Canada’s introduced a new Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP) certification in 2016, and needed to provide the engineering sector with formal professional training for engineers to gain the IRP designation. Dillon team members developed the course content, the case study exercises, the module quizzes and final examinations required to deliver this course training to engineers in an online format.

Manitoba Conservation and Climate, in partnership with Manitoba’s Green Building Coordination Team and the Climate and Green Plan Implementation Office (CGPIO) sought the development of a one-day knowledge transfer and capacity development workshop to focus on climate science, climate impacts and climate adaptation options for government buildings in Manitoba. Dillon team members developed this training in a program that was supported by contributions from the Government of Manitoba and Natural Resources Canada.

Our Mission & Approach

Our overall approach to the MCRT Project is driven by our commitment to collaboration and consultation with stakeholders of Northern Manitoba’s business sector to provide guidance, insights, and suggestions on key aspects of our research. Stakeholders from Manitoba’s northern business community will also provide input on framework design and delivery of training and capacity-building sessions for northern business participants. We are completing specific tasks to achieve the goals and objectives of the MCRT Project, including:

1. Landscape Assessment – research to determine what type of training is currently available;
2. Needs Assessment – research and engagement to identify what types of training within the business sector are the most necessary in the current context based on feedback from engaged business professionals;
3. Gap Analysis – developed to uncover the largest gaps in course content/training to help position the development of necessary and sought-after training offerings; and
4. Sector-Specific Training Offerings – Based on our gap analysis needs assessment for training desired by business participants. Course characteristics will be developed so the course content will remain relevant well into the future.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Engineers and Geoscientists Manitoba is working to strengthen the capacity of engineers, infrastructure owners, and other professionals & decision-makers in Manitoba

Our Story

The role of the infrastructure sector involves developing, validating, and delivering a suite of training and capacity building packages that include various methods of engagement, training, and knowledge mobilization activities.

The infrastructure sector will enable engineers and other infrastructure decision-makers to integrate climate resiliency into their designs and practice. These other infrastructure decision-makers represent other industry and professional associations, advocacy groups, educational institutions and the municipal and provincial governments in Manitoba.

The content of the capacity building activities ranges from general principles of climate change to hands-on and technical climate risk assessments that are becoming a high priority for industry professionals, consultants and government staff.

What We Do

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba governs and regulates the practice of professional engineering and professional geoscience in Manitoba in accordance with The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act. The Association also promotes and increases, by all lawful means and in the public interest, the knowledge, skill, and competency of its practitioners and students.

Members of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba keep up to date by participating in, and submitting documentation of, their ongoing professional development activities, consistent with Engineers Canada’s national guidelines for continuing professional development and continuing competence. Professional development requirements provide assurance to the public that public health, safety, and welfare are being protected.

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba ensures that the contributions and work of Indigenous peoples in our province are understood and valued. Those First People made history, took care of the land, and developed ways, designs, and methods (technologies, scientific observation, nomenclature, methodologies, and problem solving) to survive in the harshest of conditions.

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba’s Department of Equity and Representation addresses the reasons for the significant underrepresentation of Indigenous practitioners and practitioners who are women to achieve its strategic end that practitioners reflect the diversity of the public. Stakeholders have been engaged, and professional development seminars and presentations continue to be delivered.

Climate change touches all of our lives.

A Statement from the President of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Jason Mann, P.Geo.

Our Mission & Approach

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba’s mission for this project is to design, develop, and deliver a comprehensive climate change training and capacity enhancement package for infrastructure decision-makers in Manitoba.

A literature review identified existing training courses, needs, and gaps. This review was supplemented with advice from the BRACE Infrastructure Project Working Group, consisting of experts from the fields of architecture, construction, geoscience, and academia.

Engagement sessions for stakeholders and Association practitioners and a survey sent to all practitioners working in Manitoba, gauged the current level of design awareness and further identified training needs. Based on these needs assessments, the Association will pilot the delivery of existing and new courses in an interdisciplinary and sector focused approach.

The project will culminate with final recommendations to advance infrastructure resiliency planning and risk management in the province.

Project Coordination

As Project Coordinator, ICLEI Canada is working with the four sector groups to deliver planning sessions, capacity building, and training needs assessments. ICLEI Canada will also ensure integration across the sectors by highlighting and executing on opportunities to combine and integrate associated training modules. Finally, ICLEI will provide final recommendations that will advance climate-resilient, comprehensive planning and risk management for the province of Manitoba.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1,750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in 100+ countries, ICLEI influences sustainability policy and drives local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development. Our Members and team of experts work together through peer exchange, partnerships and capacity building to create systemic change for urban sustainability.

Prairie Provinces in a Changing Climate

The Prairie Provinces chapter from the Canada in a Changing Climate: Regional Perspectives Report was released in late 2020. It details how the climate in the Prairies is changing, the impacts of these changes, and how we are adapting.

75 INDIGENOUS
Engaged throughout the course of the project.

500 INFRASTRUCTURE
Engaged throughout the course of the project.

100 NORTHERN BUSINESS
Engaged throughout the course of the project.

250 INTEGRATED
Engaged throughout the course of the project.

11 TRAINING COURSES
To be developed

100 PLANNING
Engaged throughout the course of the project.

Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE)

The Manitoba Climate Resilience Training (MCRT) Project is part of the Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) initiative of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The Project aims to build the capacity and expertise of professionals (including engineers and planners), the business community in Northern Manitoba, and Indigenous organizations and communities to address the risks associated with climate change.

The goal of this Project is to develop and deliver a comprehensive suite of training and capacity building courses or modules that enhance climate knowledge and the uptake of tools and information that promote integrated engagement, networking, and hands-on learning opportunities. In doing so, the MCRT project Team is engaging with industry stakeholders, experts, and leaders to help create tailored approaches to integrate climate risk and opportunities into decision-making and planning within the Northern Business, Indigenous, Planning, and Infrastructure sectors in Manitoba.

Ultimately, the MCRT Project will support the Province’s Climate and Green Plan’s (CGP) vision for the province to be the most climate-resilient province in Canada. The Project will set the stage for three CGP Adaptation pillars: 1) Building knowledge and capacity to take action; 2) Mainstreaming climate adaptation planning into all facets of decision-making; and 3) Measuring results and demonstrating value of increased resiliency in Manitoba.

A Three Phased Approach

Phase A

Planning of engagement processes, workshop sessions to undertake comprehensive review, analysis and validation of existing capacity building needs, gaps and priorities; development and design of priority and high-impact capacity building and training courses/modules and other engagement sessions for each of the targeted sectors.

Phase B

Delivery of planning meetings, training courses and capacity building workshops, and other engagement activities for each identified sector.

Phase C

Development of a summary report including outcomes of above activities for each sector and recommendations to advance adaptation planning and risk management within each sector.

Featured Resources

Climate change adaptation resources are varied across Canada, in both their scope, target audience and associated content. The MCRT Project as a result will develop some novel tools, resources and approaches for the four sectors to help individuals and organizations better prepare and adapt to a changing climate, but the team also recognizes other relevant, foundational and widely used resources.

These resources have been validated by the project team as they have been either used or implemented by themselves or past project team members. The team has agreed upon the usefulness applicability of the following resources for climate change adaptation work those that have proven to be helpful within the four sectors.

adaptation learning network

The Adaptation Learning Network is a collection of educational resources and trainings for professionals in British Columbia to better integrate adaptation competencies into their professional practices and guide decision-making around climate change impacts.

PIEVC

The Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) was created in 2005 to conduct an engineering assessment of the vulnerability of Canada’s public infrastructure to the impacts of climate change. PIEVC is completely free of charge and can be used for any public infrastructure project both across Canada and internationally.

Climate Change Planning Tools for First Nations

Community planning is an important tool for First Nations peoples to use to adapt to environmental changes, and the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources’ (CIER) Climate Change Planning Tools for First Nations are specifically created for First Nations people to plan for climate change and involve community members to set achievable metrics and priorities.

Climate Atlas of Canada

TThe Climate Atlas of Canada is an innovative tool to help communities with their adaptation planning. It shares climate projects in the future based off of current climate data and allows you to switch between low carbon and high carbon scenarios. There are also many articles, stories and videos that come from all walks of life, sharing climate stories from across the country.

climate action checklist for manitoba businesses

In 2020, the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce worked with the IISD to develop a set of resources to get started implementing changes to help businesses reduce carbon emissions and become more resilient to a changing climate.

Other Resources

Prairies Regional Adaptation Collaborative (PRAC)
ClimateWest

Our Partners

Natural Resources Canada

• Supported by Natural Resources Canada’s Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) Program

Manitoba Government

• Climate and Green Plan Implementation Office, Conservation and Climate - Project Manager
• Agriculture and Resource Development
• Economic Development and Training
• Indigenous and Northern Relations
• Infrastructure
• Municipal Relations

ICLEI Canada

• Project Coordinator
• 14 staff
• 3 offices located in Toronto / Victoria / Montreal
• 1990 established

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba

• Infrastructure Sector
• 27 staff and nearly 8,700 members
• Located in Winnipeg, MB.
• Established in 1920

Dillon

• Northern Business Sector
• 700 + staff
• Located in 20 cities/towns across Canada Winnipeg, MB.
• Established in 1946

Prairie Climate Centre

• Indigenous Sector / Planning Sector
• 12 staff
• Located in Winnipeg, MB.
• Established in 2015

News

Federal Budget: Improvements to both the Economy and the Environment Announced

The current federal government has made climate change top of mind when it comes to creating new opportunities for Canadian workers and strengthening initiatives to fight, adapt and reduce the impacts of a changing climate on Canadians.

Since 2015, the federal government has spent nearly $90 billion on climate-related projects and investments. Of that total amount equal shares of $15 billion have been invested in strengthening Canada’s current climate plan and for public transit (as announced in February of this year).

The most recent announcement by the Department of Finance back in April proposed an additional $17.6 billion towards a “green recovery” which is set to create new jobs in the sustainability industry, build back with a clean economy and continue to adapt and reduce the impacts of climate change in Canada.

Of the $17.6 billion proposed investment, only $1.68 billion (or ~9.5%) has been allocated for climate change adaptation-related programs and initiatives.

As stated on Natural Resource Canada’s webpage, the climate adaptation funding allotments that the federal government outlined include:

• Natural Infrastructure: The development of a Natural Infrastructure Fund ($200 million over 3 years) for Infrastructure Canada to support both natural and hybridized (i.e. grey & green) infrastructure projects to help both mitigate impacts as a result of climate change and help reduce the likelihood of costly natural disasters
• Improving Canada’s Climate Resiliency: By far the greatest proposed investment in the climate adaptation space is for $1.4 billion over 12 years to Infrastructure Canada to add further funding to the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund which supports climate-resilient projects for wildfire management, flood protection, hardening and restoration of wetlands and shorelines and development and re-investment in municipal stormwater systems, etc.
• An additional 11.7 million over five years will also help create new standards and guidance materials in priority areas (i.e. Canada North and high risk, flood-prone areas) across the country to improve the country’s infrastructure and make it more resilient to climate change-induced events
• Flood maps: ~$64 million over three years is being given to NRCan, ECCC and PSC to work collaboratively with the country’s provinces and territories to complete and improve current flood maps for high-risk zones
• Canada Water Agency: approximately 17.4 million is being given to ECCC over two years to develop a new Canada Water Agency that will support projects and work with Indigenous governments and peoples, provinces and territories and identify opportunities to make more resilient water infrastructure.

Ultimately, projects similar to the Manitoba Climate Resilience Training (MCRT) project are imperative to help educate and better protect Canadians from climate change-induced events. As a result, it is exciting to see this additional proposed funding announced by the federal government, but future funding and investments focused on more climate adaptation measures and actions similar to those being funded for mitigation-based efforts will desperately be needed across Canada as we move further into the 21st century.

Project Orientation Workshop Summary and Next Steps

The Project Orientation Workshop was designed to serve as an initial cross-sectoral meeting with industry stakeholders and experts to introduce them to the MCRT Project and begin having conversations with them to help shape and support future MCRT training offerings. Through the workshop activity, the attendees were asked to identify where there have been successes in their sector, where training gaps may exist or content improvements can be made, and what information is most relevant and necessary with respect to one of the four sectors (Indigenous, Planning, Northern Business & Infrastructure).

The objectives for the Project Orientation Workshop were as follows:

• Ideate appropriate and necessary training offerings in four industry sectors (Infrastructure, Indigenous, Planning and Northern Business) within Manitoba;
• Carry out a high-level integrated landscape and needs assessment of current training in the province; and,
• Conduct an initial gap analysis to help reduce redundancy and improve relevancy in future trainings developed and provided as part of the MCRT Project.
  The meeting had a total of 49 attendees including the Integrated MCRT Project Management Committee (IPMC), representatives from the Government of Manitoba and key stakeholders from each of the four sectors: Indigenous, Northern Business, Planning, and Infrastructure.

Formal presentations were given to introduce the MCRT project and the BRACE program, as well as to highlight work being done by each of four sectors. After the presentations, the workshop featured the use of breakout rooms and some facilitated exercises. Participants were divided into four breakout groups: three groups were integrated with participants from across the four sectors, the final group was made up of cross-sectoral representatives from the Government of Manitoba. In the breakout groups, ICLEI used the Miro application (a virtual whiteboard) to walk participants through a series of four questions:

• Q1: What are some of the biggest successes in your sector on advancing climate change adaptation?
• Q1A: What are some of the biggest challenges in terms of furthering action on climate change adaptation in your sector?
• Q2: What trainings, tools, or resources exist to support adaptation in your sector?
• Q3: What type of information have you found most useful in your adaptation work?
• Q4: What type of learning style or training delivery is preferred?
  For a full summary of the key trends and outputs collected from this activity, please refer to the MCRT External Project Orientation Summary located here.

Ultimately, the initial workshop for the MCRT project was seen as a success. The overall structure of the workshop lent itself well to attendees and their participation level with the MCRT Project as a whole. There are still a number of things that both ICLEI Canada and the rest of the MCRT team will have to consider in moving forward (e.g. breakout group size, adjustments to facilitation of workshops, etc.) and will continue to apply the suggestions received internally and feedback from the workshop attendees.

Canada in Changing Climate: National Issues Report

The “Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues Report”, released on Monday, June 28th, 2021, provides a national perspective on how climate change is impacting our communities, environment, and economy, and how we are adapting. The report provides decision-makers with an assessment of current literature and knowledge on climate change impacts and adaptation, and includes case stories that feature examples of adaptation in practice. The chapters focus on themes of national importance and that benefit from an integrated cross-Canada perspective. Chapters discuss key vulnerabilities, risks and challenges; new and innovative approaches to adaptation; Indigenous knowledge and perspectives; and knowledge gaps and emerging issues. The report is a product of Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action, Canada’s national climate change assessment process.

In the report, you can also find a Map of Adaptation Actions across Canada (The Map). The Map provides a wide variety of concrete, local examples to support decision-makers, action enablers, and communities in an interactive and user-friendly fashion by increasing knowledge on and promoting the implementation of on-the-ground adaptation actions. You can find all this, and more on ChangingClimate.ca

The National Issues Report includes nine chapters. An overview of each chapter is outlined below (with direct links):

Chapter 1: Introduction

Provided here is a brief overview of the need for climate change adaptation in Canada and the work that has been to date. It further elaborates on the assessment process as well as the report’s scope and structure.

Chapter 2: Cities and Towns

The focus of this chapter is on the impacts of climate change to cities and towns. This chapter covers building and infrastructure resilience; the interconnections of human health and climate; reconciliation and Indigenous perspectives; mainstreaming climate adaptation; and, monitoring and evaluation techniques.

Chapter 3: Rural and Remote Communities

This chapter focuses on the impacts of climate change to rural and remote regions in Canada. This chapter covers distributional equity as it relates to climate change and rural and remote communities; diverse knowledge systems; innovative adaptation strategies in protecting traditional economies and improving at risk infrastructure; healthy communities; and local governance.

Chapter 4: Water Resources

This chapter focuses on the impacts of climate change on water quality and quantity issues. This chapter covers water issues including reducing vulnerabilities in water systems; partnerships; the importance of extreme events in leveraging public support on water issues; and innovative technologies helping to improve adaptive capacity.

Chapter 5: Ecosystem Services

This chapter focuses on the fundamental role that ecosystems play in sustaining human life and the climatic risks facing Canada’s ecosystems. This chapter covers ecosystem valuation techniques; changes in the provision of ecosystem services; differential impacts of climate change on ecosystems across Canada; the role of ecosystem-based adaptation strategies in providing co-benefits; Indigenous Knowledge and stewardship; and interdisciplinary approaches to climate adaptation.

Chapter 6: Costs and Benefits of Climate Impacts and Adaptation

This chapter focuses on measuring the economic costs and benefits of climate impacts. This chapter covers issues regarding the differential economic impacts of climate change on sectors across Canada; various economic tools used in environmental decision-making; costs and benefits of adaptation actions in Canada; and the role and limitations of government interventions in redressing barriers to climate action.

Chapter 7: Sector Impacts and Adaptation

In this chapter, the author focuses on presenting the various climate change-related impacts as they relate to individual economic sectors. Sectors that are covered in the report include Forestry, Agriculture, Fisheries, Energy, Mining, Transportation, Tourism, and Financial Services. The chapter concludes by noting that virtually all sectors of the Canadian economy will be impacted, directly or indirectly, by a changing climate.

Chapter 8: Climate Disclosure, Litigation and Finance

This chapter focuses on the areas of climate-related disclosure and the role of litigation in address climate change. This chapter covers methodological and data gaps; use of litigation in compelling government action on climate change; increasing risks of climate litigation; and actions needed to transition to a climate-resilient low-carbon economy in Canada.

Chapter 9: International Dimensions

This chapter focuses on the changing dynamics of international and transboundary concerns and opportunities in the face of climate change. This chapter covers the potential opportunities and impacts related to shrinking sea ice in the Arctic; the role Canada can play in building greater adaptive capacity into transboundary agreements; impacts of climate change on Canada’s fisheries sector; impacts of climate change on international trade; and the impacts of increasing global climate migrants.

CCME releases Guidance Document on Good Practices in Climate Change Risk Assessment

Released in early 2021, the Guidance Document on Good Practices in Climate Change Risk Assessment was authored by ICLEI Canada on behalf of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). Creation of this document was spurred by a desire to enable upper-level governments in Canada to lead by example by addressing climate change risks and building institutional resilience.

The guidance document was designed for federal, provincial, and territorial governments to inform climate change risk assessment processes. This includes how to select the most appropriate approach for the assessment (e.g. top-down versus bottom-up) and how to select a framework to best suit your needs (e.g. ISO 31000:2018 versus the Ontario Climate Change and Health Toolkit). The development of the document was informed through a literature review of climate change risk assessment methodologies used at a variety of scales across Canada and internationally, followed by various expert interviews on how these methodologies were developed and used.

The document opens with a summary of the fundamentals and guiding principles of climate change risk assessment, how risk assessments can be used to inform decision-making and the various approaches that can be taken to conduct this assessment, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Next are six questions that should be considered by users prior to undertaking a climate change risk assessment. Following this are the six frameworks that demonstrate good practices in climate change risk assessment, with supporting case studies that demonstrate how each framework was applied at a given scale or jurisdiction.

When exploring the applicability of each of the six good practices, users will be presented with the following information:

• Framework description;
• Target framework users;
• Context of assessment the framework is best suited for;
• Decisions or processes the framework is best suited to support or inform;
• Stakeholders, partners, and organizations best suited to be involved;
• Degree of collaboration;
• Degree of contextualization and/or localization;
• Aspects of the framework that assist with replicability;
• Other promising practices with the framework (if applicable).

Each framework’s supporting case study provides a background of the project that was undertaken, information on the context of the assessment, how the project was planned and implemented, what elements within this case study can be easily replicated by other users, what challenges were experienced and lessons that were learned, as well as information on the positive outcomes of the project and the factors that contributed to its overall success.

A summary document was also created to further support users with the guidance document. This summary highlights many of the key themes discussed in the guidance document itself and includes an additional self-questionnaire to help navigate the good practices in climate change risk assessment. As no single framework is ideal for assessing all climate change risks, this additional questionnaire will aid users in choosing a risk assessment scope and approach based on their needs, objectives, and capacities.

Contact

General Inquiries

Phone
(647) 728-4308

Email
iclei-canada@iclei.org

Offices

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba
870 Pembina Highway,
Winnipeg, MB R3M 2M7

Phone
(204) 474-2738 Ext. 232

Email
GR@EngGeoMB.ca

Dillon consulting
1558 Willson Place,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 0Y4

Phone
(204) 453-2301

Email
climatereadybusiness@gmail.com

Prairie climate centre
515 Portage Avenue,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 2E9

Phone
(204) 786-9938

Email
s.muirhead-ra@uwinnipeg.ca

Climate and green plan implementation office - Manitoba conservation and climate
1200 – 155 Carlton Street,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 3H8

Phone
(204) 945-7246

Email
ccinfo@gov.mb.ca

Media & Press

Phone
(647) 728-4308

Email
iclei-canada@iclei.org

https://natural-resources.canada.ca/climate-change/building-regional-adaptation-capacity-and-expertise-program/21324