Climate risk threatens large number of Canadian homes – think tank

A substantial share of Canadians are buying homes in locales that might see climate change-impelled damages of more than $1 billion annually over the next few decades, according to a federally funded research group.

“Within 30 years, climate change will likely increase annual coastal flood damages to homes and buildings from about $60 million now to as much as $300 million,” said the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices. “By the end of the century, if sea levels continue to rise, damages could approach $1.2 billion per year.”

Compounding the lack of information on climate risks is the fact that the nation’s housing distribution – and its infrastructure in general – isn’t prepared for the worst effects of the impending crisis, the group said in its latest report.

“There’s pretty poor understanding of climate risks and really poor risk-disclosure practices across the country,” said Dylan Clark, report co-author and senior research associate at the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices. “Information that’s readily available to most decision-makers and investors and consumers does not provide enough information to make informed decisions – and that’s a key barrier here to adaptation.”

Read more: Climate change and its impact on mortgages

Aside from making risk information readily available and accessible, Canada should begin “building for resilience” by ensuring that new developments take long-term climate change into account – and there is no better time to begin this shift than the present, Clark said.

“When it comes to adapting proactively, the [current] net zero transition also presents an opportunity. To meet our climate commitments, Canada will need to build a vast amount of new infrastructure, and retrofit existing stock, to enable the necessary emissions reductions,” the institute said. “If this new infrastructure is designed wisely, it will be more resilient to future climate impacts.”