Government of Canada collaborates with Ouranos to deliver climate expertise to Canadians

In Budget 2017, the Government of Canada announced funding to create the Canadian Centre for Climate Services to help people across the country make decisions about adapting to climate change.

Launched in October 2018, the Canadian Centre for Climate Services is a dedicated service that makes Canada’s climate data accessible to Canadians, communities, and businesses.

On February 22, 2019, the Government of Canada announced $1.25 million in funding over five years to Ouranos. The Quebec-based regional climate consortium helps policy-makers identify, evaluate, promote, and implement national, regional, and local adaptation strategies. This funding will enhance Ouranos’s existing capacity to provide regional climate services and the collective capacity of providers to deliver climate services across Canada.

The Province of Quebec provides funding to Ouranos and participates on the Ouranos board of directors. For more than 15 years, Ouranos has provided climate information to enable adaptation to a changing climate.

This regional collaboration is the second of its kind. In February 2019, the Government of Canada announced $1.25 million in funding to the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, in British Columbia.

Providing better access to climate data and information

The Canadian Centre for Climate Services provides access to climate data, such as changes in temperature and precipitation, as well as tools and information from across the country. The Canadian Centre for Climate Services strives to provide authoritative, timely, and relevant climate services. This goal is achieved by working in partnership with federal government departments, different levels of government, and regional climate organizations.

Helping Canadians adapt to the impacts of climate change and build resilience is a pillar of Canada’s climate plan. The Canadian Centre for Climate Services is helping Canadians by

• increasing climate resilience
• improving understanding of how the climate is changing
• providing a reliable source of information, which can help Canadians discover how these changes may affect their daily lives

The Canadian Centre for Climate Services also provides guidance and resources to help Canadians use this knowledge for making climate-smart decisions when planning for the future.

Through the Canadian Centre for Climate Services website, Canadians can access climate data and tools from various partners, as well as other climate experts in Canada, using our library of climate resources. Canadians can also contact the Canadian Centre for Climate Services Support Desk to find and interpret climate data, information, or tools by completing and submitting the email form on the website or by calling 1-833-517-0376.

Building local capacity to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast

The Canadian Centre for Climate Services works with regional climate organizations to provide locally relevant information to users, which helps build a strong network of climate-service providers.

Ouranos is a Montréal-based consortium with a network of more than 450 expert collaborators, and it is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert climate service provider. The organization helps policy-makers identify, evaluate, promote, and implement national, regional, and local adaptation strategies.

In regions of Canada not currently served by a climate-expert organization, the Canadian Centre for Climate Services is working with provinces and territories to foster the development of organizations that can serve the Atlantic provinces, the Prairie provinces, and the North.