How Can Municipalities in British Columbia and Québec Contribute to Flood Risk Reduction?

Bernard Deschamps, Michael Bourdeau-Brien and Mathieu Boudreault
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Mathieu Boudreault: University of Toronto

No 64, IMFG Papers from University of Toronto, Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance

Abstract: Flood-related losses are on the rise in Canada and private insurance remains costly or unavailable in high-risk areas. Despite the introduction of overland flood insurance in 2015, following the federal government’s invitation to the insurance industry to participate in flood risk-sharing, federal and provincial disaster financial assistance programs still cover a large portion of these costs. As the risks increase, governments are questioning the sustainability of using taxpayers’ money to finance such losses, leaving municipalities with significant residual risk. The growing number of people and assets occupying flood-prone areas, including public infrastructure, has contributed to the sharp increase in flood damage costs. Based on a literature review and discussions with experts, this paper describes the municipal role in flood-risk management, and shows how provincial and federal financial assistance to municipalities for flood damage in British Columbia and Québec may be counterproductive in fostering flood-risk management at the municipal level. We conclude that municipalities can play a more proactive role in incorporating risk reduction as the key objective of disaster financial assistance and propose three specific policy instruments to help reduce the growing number of people living in flood zones: flood mapping, land-use planning, and the relocation of high-risk properties.

Keywords: risk governance; policy instruments; disaster financial assistance; land-use planning; flood-risk mapping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H77 Q54 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2023-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-ure
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https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/ ... r_no64_floodrisk.pdf First version, 2023

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