Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation to Keep Communities Safe in Atlantic Canada

Backgrounder

On January 17, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, along with the Honourable Dominic Leblanc, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, the Honourable Joanne Thompson and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, announced over $8.8 million in funding for nine projects in Atlantic Canada under Natural Resources Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP) and Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities (CRCC) Program.

These projects will aim to support regions and sectors in Atlantic Canada in adapting to a changing climate. The projects will focus on developing and improving strategies, tools and resources; strengthening the knowledge and skills of practitioners; and implementing innovative adaptation actions to address climate change risks and adaptation gaps.

The funding announced today comes from a total investment of $39.5 million, announced on November 14, 2024, through the CCAP and the CRCC Program to address climate change risks and build more-resilient communities across the country in support of the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS). 

NRCan is funding the following two projects under the CCAP:

Project Name: Building an Atlantic Canada Adaptation Skills and Training Program
Recipient: CLIMAtlantic Inc.
Reach: Atlantic Region
Location: Sackville, New Brunswick
Funding from the CCAP: $875,000
Project Summary: This project will strengthen climate change adaptation knowledge and skills of practitioners in the Atlantic Region by broadening the reach and impact of existing resources and making them available on a regional scale. The project will offer training and development opportunities, including a multi-module course, and implement a cohort-based model to support collaborative, peer-to-peer learning in communities of practice.

Project Name: Building the Business Case for Flood Adaptation
Recipient: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Reach: Newfoundland and Labrador
Location: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Funding from the CCAP: $350,000
Project Summary: This project will strengthen the business case for investing in climate change adaptation in Newfoundland and Labrador. Focusing on coastal and inland flooding, the project will develop a publicly available, standardized, objective and time-sensitive cost-benefit analysis tool to support decision makers in prioritizing adaptation actions.

NRCan is funding the following seven projects under the CRCC Program:

Project Name: Making Adaptation Count: Implementing Adaptation Pathways across the East Coast
Recipient: CLIMAtlantic Inc.
Reach: Communities across the Atlantic Region
Location: Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Eastern shore of New Brunswick; Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia; and Ferryland and Nunatsiavut, Newfoundland and Labrador
Funding from the CRCC Program: $1,600,000
Project Summary: This project will complete six case studies located across all four Atlantic Provinces and Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, by piloting the use of adaptation pathways approaches in planned or ongoing adaptation initiatives. The adaptation pathways approach will support the development and implementation of iterative and flexible actions that can respond to future changes and avoid decisions that lock in unsustainable actions.

Project Name: Regional Adaptation Plan for the Acadian Peninsula
Recipient: Commission de services régionaux Péninsule acadienne
Reach: Acadian Peninsula, New Brunswick
Location: Hautes-Terre, Rivière-du-Nord, Caraquet, Tracadie, Lamèque Island, Shippagan, Neguac, Miscou
Funding from the CRCC Program: $1,403,672
Project Summary: This project will develop a regional adaptation plan and provide climate change adaptation knowledge and skills for Acadian Peninsula communities by updating the erosion and flood risk zones, developing nature-based and hybrid solutions, and supporting municipal decision-makers with tools and resources to effectively implement inclusive adaptation measures.

Project Name: Development of Shoreline Management Plans to Increase Climate Resilience in Prince Edward Island
Recipient: Government of Prince Edward Island
Reach: Coastal communities in Prince Edward Island
Location: Lennox Island (Note: two other communities/regions located in PEI to be co-decided once project starts)
Funding from the CRCC Program: $1,100,000
Project Summary: This project will develop shoreline management plans (SMPs) to reduce key climate change risks, including flooding, erosion, nature-based challenges and increased storm severity, for three littoral cell areas on Prince Edward Island. Each SMP will provide a detailed action plan and policy recommendations to address the sustainable management of the coastal zone and improving climate resiliency of coastal communities in Prince Edward Island.

Project Name: Adapting Nova Scotia’s Shared Coastal Parks
Recipient: Clean Nova Scotia Foundation
Reach: Nova Scotia
Location: Public coastal lands in Nova Scotia
Funding from the CRCC Program: $999,992
Project Summary: This project will undertake climate change risks and vulnerability assessments for three coastal park regions in Nova Scotia and work with local organizations to conceptualize climate change adaptation, which could inform future planning in parks. This work will include detailed site plans that prioritize nature-based solutions as well as knowledge sharing and capacity building for the coastal parks sector.

Project Name: Community-led Inclusive Resiliency: Climate Adaptation on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Southwest Coast
Recipient: Canadian Red Cross Society
Reach: Newfoundland and Labrador
Location: Bay St. George, Port-aux-Basques
Funding from the CRCC Program: $889,720
Project Summary: This project will take a whole-of-society and all-hazards approach to address physical, social and economic vulnerabilities to climate change risks in Newfoundland. It will develop and implement integrated community-led adaptation and disaster risk management plans and actions, integrating social and economic considerations as well as the unique circumstances of individuals and communities.

Project Name: Coastal Resiliency Through Long-Term Service Delivery Planning
Recipient: Atlantic Infrastructure Management Network
Reach: Communities across the Atlantic Region
Location: Shelburne, District of Shelburne, Municipality of Barrington, Lockeport, Nova Scotia; Summerside, Prince Edward Island; St. Andrews, New Brunswick; St. John’s, Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador
Funding from the CRCC Program: $880,872
Project Summary: This project will bring together groups of municipalities (cohorts) in each Atlantic province to collaborate on regional-scale adaptation planning that can be put into action. Each municipal cohort will leverage municipal asset management and planning processes to integrate long-term climate change adaptation into plans, policies, regulations and actions.

Project Name: Indigenous-led Climate Change Adaptation in the Passamaquoddy Bay
Recipient: Passamaquoddy Recognition Group Inc.
Reach: Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick
Location: Passamaquoddy Bay, St. Stephen
Funding from the CRCC Program: $800,000
Project Summary: This project will coordinate adaptation actions between the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik and partners in the Passamaquoddy Bay region to increase resilience to future climate change risks. This work will identify actions to protect archaeological sites of cultural, spiritual and historical importance from sea level rise and erosion and develop policies and regional land-use plans that incorporate Indigenous knowledge and future climate change risks to protect residential and municipal shorelines.

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