Program Resources

A website with information about projected climate impacts as well as general reference sources developed and summarized by Natural Resources Canada. As useful starting point is Adaptation 101

A partner interface for distributing climate change scenarios and adaptation research that provides access to Canadian research on the development of scenarios and adaptation research.

This tool from the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium is designed to assess climate change and projected future climate conditions in British Columbia through the generation of high-resolution maps, graphs and data tables based on a standard set of climate model projections.

A site with resources on climate change, its impacts and related socioeconomic and environmental vulnerabilities, that are geared to inform decision makers about probable climate trends and advise them on identifying, assessing, promoting and implementing local and regional adaptation strategies.

In 2010, as part of its Climate Change Action Plan, Thompson, Manitoba completed a baseline inventory of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and found that the propane combusted in propane furnaces contributed 82% of residential-sector emissions, but only 18% of total energy usage. To combat this, the city initiated a furnace-replacement program. The objective was to remove as many older, inefficient propane furnaces as possible, replacing them with high-efficiency propane or electric furnaces, or geothermal heat pumps.

Municipalities in Canada are making great strides to reduce GHGs. This presentation overviews the results of municipal action that were reported on in 2011.

This presentation reviews community engagement and commitments to cut GHG emissions and take action on climate change in the City of Thompson, Manitoba.

The City of Saskatoon has implemented a variety of actions to reduce GHGs. This presentation reviews to initiatives to more efficiently heat and freeze water for use in pools and ice rinks.

This presentation outlines the City of Burlington's approach to improve energy management. It frames the current policy framework for energy management in Ontario, Burlington's energy profile and projected needs,  their strategic direction and snapshots of projects being implemented.

Drake Landing, a 52-house development, is Canada's first solar-powered community district heating system. An array of 800 solar panels, installed atop the development's stand-alone garages, captures solar energy in spring, summer and fall.

Climate change is having an impact in your community and across the country. Local governments are creating momentum for climate protection. PCP can help empower your community to decide where, when and how it will take action on climate change.

Solar energy in Canada represents a viable renewable energy source that can be harnessed and used at the municipal scale to provide heat and power. This presentation from the Canadian Solar Industries Association provides an overview of solar energy as a resource, and the technological and economic/regulatory considerations for utilizing it.

Geothermal energy in Canada represents a viable renewable energy source that can be harnessed and used at the municipal scale to provide heat and power. This presentation from the Canadian Geoexchange Coalition provides an overview of geothermal exchange systems as a resource, and the technological and economic/regulatory considerations for utilizing it.

Biomass in Canada represents a viable renewable energy source that can be harnessed and used at the municipal scale to provide heat and power. This presentation from the Canadian Bioenergy Association provides an overview of biomass as a resource, and the available technologies and economic/regulatory considerations for utilizing it.

The webinar discusses the realization of renewables in the municipal context as well as the potential challenges in their application.

The Greater Sudbury Housing Corporation (GSHC) is a non-profit organization that manages more than 280 public housing buildings on behalf of its sole shareholder, the City of Greater Sudbury. About 40% of the units managed are high-rise apartment buildings. In 2007, the GSHC was faced with the need to reduce energy consumption at its largest building, a 17-storey apartment complex on Bruce Street. After reviewing a variety of ideas, the GSHC approached Conserval Engineering, a Toronto-based company, to custom-design a SolarWall® as the best solution.

In 2010, the Town of Gibsons, British Columbia, established a geoexchange district energy utility system to heat and cool a new housing development. The first phase of the system, now complete, provides heating and cooling to 27 residential lots in the Parkland development area of Gibsons.

Developed in collaboration between FCM and the Canadian Standards Association, this online knowledge development and applied learning oriented course, provides an overview of concepts associated with climate change and potential impacts on infrastructure. 

The purpose of this guide, prepared by the Government of Nova Scotia is to help municipalities prepare Municipal Climate Change Action Plans . The guide aims to help municipalities reduce greenhouse gas emissions and identify priorities for climate change adaptation.

This Plan is the third of three municipal plans which work together to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. The first step was the completion of the Official Community Plan and the second was the completion of the Climate Action Plan. They lay the foundation and contains strategies for community and municipal climate action to 2020 and beyond. The final step was the development of this Climate Change Adaptation Plan that will prepare the community and operations for the anticipated climate changes in the district. While the Official Community Plan provides overall guidance for community development, and climate related policies are implemented through the two climate action plans, all three of these plans are needed to properly respond to this challenge and provide a longlasting foundation for climate change resiliency in the municipality.

Engineers Canada, in partnership with Natural Resources Canada, has developed and tested the PIEVC Engineering Protocol. This protocol is a structured procedure using standard risk assessment methods to assess and document infrastructure's vulnerability to future climate change impacts.

A growing number of communities are faced with impacts attributable to climate change causing flood damage, the invasion of new insect pests and in coastal area loss of land.

The Whitehorse Community Adaptation Project, or WhiteCAP, begins the process of preparing Whitehorse for climate change. WhiteCAP consists of two distinct phases: planning and implementation. The WhiteCAP plan assesses how climate change may positively or negatively affect the community over the next forty years, to 2050. The first half of the planning process focuses on exploring multiple scenarios of how the community may change by 2050. The second half assesses the risks of climate change impacts and then the priorities of climate change adaptations.

The publication, written by the Clean Air Partnership, outlines the research and writing steps as well as the challenges and benefits associated with case study writing.

This report, from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) summarizes for 18 regions, the observed climate trends to date and some climate related factors. Projections are then given to 2050 of these key climate and climate-related factors. These related factors emphasize events or trends which result in hardship or damages or benefits, and are often felt most strongly in communities. An emphasis has been placed on extreme events when data and projections were available, since they often cause the largest damages and human disruptions.

The purpose of the handbook, prepared by the Canadian Institute of Planners is to help small Canadian communities to prepare and implement a climate change adaptation plan. It can help community planners take the key steps required to plan for climate change adaptation and decision makers determine what strategic actions need to be taken. It is especially useful for small communities without "in house" planning resources.

This guide from ICLEI-Canada provides a milestone framework that leads local government practitioners through a process of initiation, research, planning, implementation and monitoring for climate adaptation planning. The workbook is filled with practical tools and exercises to support the milestone process, and the information annexes summarize a variety of policy and scientific resources that can be used to compliment your activities.

This national guide, written by Robert Black, James Bruce and Mark Egener, provides a process to help users identify and analyze risks due to climate change as well as communicate the findings of the analysis. It follows a standard risk management approach and uses Canadian risk management terminology. The guide provides the method and helpful hints on the risk assessment process.

The 2010 EarthCare Sudbury Action Plan - Becoming a Sustainable Community, builds on the foundation established by Greater Sudbury's former Local Action Plan, and reflects the progress our community has made since its release in 2003.

The webinar series facilitates information-sharing among Canadian communities about climate change, its impacts on urban environments and strategies to reduce vulnerability or adapt to these impacts. The webinars also link government officials with leading experts in the growing field of climate change adaptation.

(Available in French only) This tool, produced by Ouranos for Quebec communities, discusses the need for adaptation and provides an overview of the expected climatic changes and impacts for Quebec as they relate to municipalities.  The tool takes users through a process that results in the development of an adaptation plan.

This report aims to integrate relevant existing scientific climate change data and adaptation processes with community knowledge of climate change, in order to develop new tools that incorporates climate change concerns in community planning initiatives. Community engagement is a central component of the project team's approach, and the project relies heavily on existing community knowledge and understanding of climate related events.

Toronto has responded to the need to address climate change through the Climate Change, Clean Air and Sustainable Energy Action Plan. The development and establishment of a climate change adaptation strategy is one of the actions contained in the Climate Change Action Plan. This document presents an action-oriented framework that is designed to help members of the public and other stakeholders engage in the process of designing and implementing a climate change adaptation strategy for Toronto.

This document discusses current and future risks and opportunities that climate change presents to Canada, with a focus on human and managed systems. The assessment highlights key issues facing each region of the country in a policy-relevant manner.

This report presents the results of the climate change adaptation strategy project. It includes projected climate scenarios for Fredericton, a summary of potential risks and adaptative measures based on the experiences of other jurisdictions, and a summary of Fredericton's stakeholders concerns and suggested approaches to climate change adaptation.

Northeastern Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, is one of Canada's most sensitive coasts. It is a region that is subject to high tides and frequent extreme storm events, which produce ongoing erosion of 1 to 3 metres per year. This study is examining the potential physical, socio-economic, and cultural impacts of climate change on this coastal area. Enhanced sea-level rise from a warming climate could increase the vulnerability of community infrastructure, cultural sites, the tourism industry, and sensitive ecological areas.

This handbook explains how to complete inventories and forecasts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that result in recognition of Milestone 1. The primary users of this handbook will be local government staff or consultants who have been asked to develop an emissions inventory. The handbook will also be useful to senior staff and council members who are planning budgets to complete Milestone One. The value of inventories of GHG emissions becomes apparent when local governments begin to set reduction targets for local government operations and the community (Milestone Two).

Local action planning is the process of creating a strategic document that outlines specifically how your municipality will achieve a selected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target. This document will guide you through the stakeholder engagement process, based on lessons learned from various municipalities.

Halifax's Climate SMART  (Sustainable Mitigation and Adaptation Risk Toolkit) initiative has an overall objective of mainstreaming climate change into municipal decision making and incorporation of climate change risk management and adaptation in future corporate business unit plans. One of the key deliverables of Climate SMART is the development of a climate change risk management strategy. This strategy provides Halifax decision makers with an approach to minimize risks from climate change. These adaptation measures can take many forms including planning tools, design tools, legal tools, infrastructure changes, and changes in behavioral patterns.

Salluit, located in northern Quebec, has a rapidly expanding population that requires new housing and municipal development. Being located in the bottom of a valley along a fjord, on ice rich soils, there is little space for new expansion. Inland in the valley, a landslide that took place in 1999 has put a stop to development. The problem is made more complex by the fact that the area is affected by rapid climate warming since 1995. Permafrost temperature has gone up by about 1.5 °C, from -6.5 °C to -5.0 °C, and the active layer depth has increased by about 150%. The increase in temperature has a huge impact on the bearing capacity of the soils which, therefore, limit the spatial expansion of the village.

The Corporation of Delta and Tsawwassen First Nations Reserve are located on the coast of the Fraser River delta adjacent to Roberts Bank. The Roberts Bank tidal flats are host to important fish and bird habitats as well as major economic infrastructure such as the Deltaport and Tsawwassen ferry terminal. The natural response of Delta's shoreline to rising sea level would be for it to migrate inland, but because the coastline is dyked, the tidal flats are likely to shrink. In other words, most tidal flat zones, including present areas of marshland, will likely be more frequently flooded by water and more frequently subjected to wave attack.

Currently the greater Calgary area (Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Bragg Creek) relies solely on water supply from the Elbow and Bow Rivers. However, current climate change models predict river discharge in the future will drop due to decreased precipitation and decreased glacial coverage in the headwaters of the basin. As the city would likely have to share water shortages with other major users (industry, agriculture), this places a high degree of uncertainty on the upper limit of population that can be supported solely on the river system.

Most municipal governments in Canada are struggling with how to maintain, fix or replace aging infrastructure. This guide outlines the practical steps that help answer some fundamental questions in relatively short order - what do we have in the way of infrastructure assets, what are they worth, and what should we be budgeting this year and over the next decade to properly sustain these assets?

The Estimated Inventory estimates the distribution of emissions among sectors like buildings, transportation, and industry, and guides you to where your greatest opportunities for reductions are. You can use the Estimated Inventory to pursue projects immediately in areas where the greatest reduction benefits are, and to guide you in completing the detailed corporate and community inventories.