The House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development met to study extreme weather events, flood insurance, and disaster financial assistance. Witnesses appeared from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), and Statistics Canada.
Andrew DeFazio, Director at CMHC, explained that CMHC is the technical adviser to Public Safety Canada on the proposed national flood insurance program, which aims to protect the roughly 10% of households in high-risk areas that account for 90% of flood risk and are currently uninsurable or severely under-insured. He noted that insurers support a government-backed, industry-delivered program that could be scaled to other extreme weather events, and that Canada is the only G7 country without a public mechanism for managing natural catastrophes. He recommended that the program be designed to transition risk back to industry over time and emphasized that affordability must be considered alongside resilience.
Kenza El Bied, Director General at Public Safety Canada, stated that flooding is Canada's costliest natural hazard and that the department is advancing several initiatives, including a modernized Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program that incorporates "building back better" standards and a forthcoming flood portal to inform homeowners of their flood risk. She said the national flood insurance program is progressing but could not provide a timeline for its completion, noting that work began three to four years ago and that the department is still developing policy parameters. She disagreed with any suggestion that the program is not urgent, calling it important and necessary.
Jason Jacques, Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer, presented a PBO report projecting that DFAA costs will average $1.8 billion per year from 2025 to 2034, roughly double the average of the previous decade. He attributed the increase to climate change and rising construction costs, and noted that the PBO has modelled climate impacts on GDP, forecasting a 6% loss by 2100. He offered to extend the DFAA forecast to 2050 or analyze the adequacy of federal funding for First Nations emergency services if the committee requested it, but he had not studied the costs or benefits of the proposed national flood insurance program.
Jennifer Withington, Assistant Chief Statistician at Statistics Canada, reported that nearly a quarter of households and 14% of businesses have been affected by a natural disaster in the past year, and that insurance costs have outpaced inflation since 2020. She highlighted challenges in measuring uninsured losses and noted that Statistics Canada is working on a peer-reviewed analysis of residential properties in high flood hazard areas. She and her colleagues provided data on excess deaths from extreme heat and on the health impacts of wildfires, and they offered to supply written summaries of their findings.
The committee also discussed First Nations housing and insurance issues, with several members noting that on-reserve communities face unique challenges related to firefighting capacity, insurance coverage, and access to DFAA funding. The PBO offered to undertake a study on the adequacy of federal funding for First Nations emergency services if the committee passed a motion to that effect. At the end of the meeting, David Bexte gave notice of a motion, which was adopted, to allow up to three associate members per party to receive committee documents and access the digital binder until September 25, 2026.
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