Climate Change Adaptation for Ontario’s Great Lakes

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/03/10

Natural Resources Canada develops policies and programs that enhance the contribution of the natural resources sector to the economy, improve the quality of life for all Canadians and conducts innovative science in facilities across Canada to generate ideas and transfer technologies. The Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities (CRCC) Program is funding two Ontario Great Lakes projects with $4.1 million from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Conservation Ontario leads the $3.1 million Adaptation to Coastal Hazards project, developing resilience plans for Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario. Zuzek Inc. leads the $1 million Pelee Coastal Climate Resilience Plan for Point Pelee Peninsula. The CRCC supports Indigenous-led projects, including initiatives in Passamaquoddy Bay and the Fraser River Estuary. The Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP) provides updated flood maps to enhance public safety, planning, and response. Canada prioritizes climate adaptation for long-term resilience.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the funding for Ontario’s Great Lakes, under the Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities (CRCC) Program?

Natural Resources Canada (Government of Canada): The Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities (CRCC) Program is co-funding two CRCC pilot projects in the Ontario Great Lakes, which represents $4.1 million in NRCan funding.

Jacobsen: Who will lead these new projects?

Natural Resources Canada: A backgrounder was included in the news release (Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation Around Ontario’s Great Lakes) with the project details below:

Project Name: Adaptation to Coastal Hazards across the Great Lakes Region 
Recipient (project lead): Conservation Ontario 

Reach: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Ontario 

Location: Northern Lake Superiors shoreline within the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority jurisdiction; Southern Lake Huron shoreline within Maitland Conservation Authority jurisdiction; Western Lake Ontario shoreline from Niagara River to Joshua’s Creek 

Funding from the CRCC Program: $3,100,000 

Project Summary: This project will develop regional coastal resilience plans by working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders, including governments, Indigenous communities, businesses and experts, for three pilot project regions within the Great Lakes (Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior). Each coastal resilience plan will identify adaptation actions, building on baseline science and risk assessments, to address climate change risks in these communities.

Project Name: Pelee Coastal Climate Resilience and Adaptation Action Plan 

Recipient (project lead): Zuzek Inc.

Reach: Pelee Peninsula Region, Lake Eerie, Ontario 

Location: Point Pelee East and Point Pelee West littoral cells converging at Point Pelee National Park 

Funding from the CRCC Program: $1,000,000

Project Summary: This project will develop a coastal climate resilience and adaptation action plan in Point Pelee Peninsula in southwestern Ontario, a coastal community that is at risk from flooding, erosion and loss of coastal wetlands. Through the leadership of a multi-stakeholder Coastal Resilience Committee, this project will conduct a vulnerability assessment to future climate change impacts and co-develop integrated regional resilience plans and adaptation actions that are equitable, sustainable and transformative.

For more information, please contact Zuzek Inc. and Conservation Ontario.

Jacobsen: What are the primary objectives in supporting coastal communities?

Natural Resources Canada: The Government of Canada remains committed to advancing climate change adaptation efforts to reduce risks and protect Canadians, communities, businesses, and the economy more broadly, as well as prepare for current and future impacts of climate change. Canada’s coastal communities are on the front lines of climate change, facing rising sea levels, extreme weather, and erosion that threaten homes, businesses, and ecosystems.

That’s why the Government of Canada has invested over $6.6 billion in climate adaptation since 2015, including $2.1 billion in new commitments since Fall 2022.

Through the CRCC Program, in support of the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS), Canada is funding 21 regional-scale pilot projects across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic coasts, as well as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region. These projects bring together local partners to enhance climate resilience, reduce risks, and develop innovative solutions tailored to each region’s unique challenges. 

By integrating research, collaboration, and real-world action, these projects will not only strengthen coastal communities today but also provide insights to scale up adaptation efforts to other coastal communities and nationwide ensuring a safer, more resilient future for all Canadians.

Jacobsen: Why should Canada invest in climate change adaptation now? (What are future projections?)

Natural Resources Canada: Every year, Canadians are facing more frequent and extreme climate events such as floods, wildfires and heat waves, as well as gradual climate change impacts like thawing permafrost and rising sea levels. These challenges affect the quality of life, health, environment and economy of communities across the country.

Adapting to a changing climate is important to build resilient communities and protect Canadians’ homes and livelihoods. Investing in climate change adaptation also means that Canada can better plan for, withstand and recover from climate impacts and reduce disaster recovery costs.

Action and investments to build resilience helps avoid future costs and ensures long-term viability of assets and investments. The Government of Canada is supporting Canadians as they incorporate climate change considerations in their decision-making processes in response to Canada’s rapidly changing climate. Canadians can access, visualize, and analyze climate data, and access information and tools to support adaptation planning and decision-making at https://climatedata.ca/. This platform is a free open access climate data portal produced collaboratively by the country’s leading climate organizations and supported, in part, by the Government of Canada.

Of note, Canadians can also access information on climate change adaptation actions through the Map of Adaptation Actions, a collaboration between Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and NRCan. The Map is an interactive, searchable tool housing a collection of climate change adaptation examples, including from coastal communities, that provide useful information to decision-makers and those taking action on climate change adaptation.

Jacobsen: What are the justifications by the Government of Canada for cost efficacy of climate change adaptation measures?

Natural Resources Canada: Adaptation is about reducing risks related to climate change for Canadians, communities, businesses, and the economy more broadly, and being better prepared for current and future changes in climate through planning and action.

Every $1 spent on climate adaptation measures saves up to $15 in terms of the long-term costs involved in mitigating climate change and extreme weather events (Canadian Climate Institute, Damage Control: Reducing the Costs of Climate Impacts in Canada).

The CRCC Program will achieve benefits by working at a regional scale, such as more efficient alignment of resources and adaptation actions, innovative solutions, co-benefits and reduced risks of maladaptation.

Jacobsen: How can Indigenous communities play integral collaborations in these projects and in research?

Natural Resources Canada: The CRCC Program supports a range of communities, including rural, remote, and Indigenous communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change due to complex and often interconnected factors that limit their adaptive capacity, including higher social vulnerability and increased exposure.

Recognizing the need to reduce barriers to accessing federal funding for climate change adaptation initiatives, the CRCC Program included an Indigenous-led Project Stream ($2.5 million). Indigenous applicants were also eligible to apply for project funding through the Open Call for Proposals Stream. The CRCC Program is funding five Indigenous-led projects of which the details on two out of the five projects announced are available on the CRCC website.

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.

Project Name: Lifelines in the Fraser Estuary: Taking Care of Each Other for a Climate Resilient Future 

Recipient: Emergency Planning Secretariat 

Reach: Lower Fraser River Estuary, British Columbia (Pacific Region) 

Location: Lower Fraser River Estuary, Abbotsford, B.C. 
Funding from CRCC: $1,791,265 

Project Summary: This project will develop priority adaptation actions and address climate risks from sea level rise, flooding and erosion to local essential services across the Fraser River Estuary. This work will increase the capacity, knowledge and engagement of communities to take coordinated short- and long-term adaptation action and will be driven by collaboration with First Nations and local governments.

CRCC pilot projects include meaningful involvement of Indigenous communities, rights-holders, and organizations as appropriate to ensure that their interests and perspectives are reflected.

Indigenous communities and organizations are involved in CRCC pilot projects in various ways, depending on the unique context of each project. For example, among the CRCC projects, Indigenous communities and organizations are involved as project leads or partners, as members of steering committees or advisory tables, and as key audiences for engagement and collaboration.

The CRCC Program also encourages projects to integrate Indigenous knowledge where possible and appropriate, in collaboration with Indigenous partners, to ensure that project results are useful and relevant for Indigenous communities. The Program acknowledges that there may be protected knowledge within the CRCC proponents’ possession that they choose not to share publicly and supports Indigenous proponents to integrate Indigenous Knowledge in products developed for their own use.

Jacobsen: How extensive is the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP)?

Natural Resources Canada: Canadians across the country are already facing the consequences of climate change, contributing to more frequent and severe weather events like floods. Flood events cause significant damage and result in an annual average loss of over 2 billion dollars in Canada.

Launched November 2021, the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP) provides essential information through current and accessible flood hazard maps to enable individuals, governments, and Indigenous communities to understand flood risks better, make informed decisions about land use and infrastructure development, and effectively plan and prepare for floods. Under the National Adaptation Strategy, the FHIMP has been extended to advance flood mapping until 2028.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) leads the FHIMP, with support from Environment and Climate Change Canada and Public Safety Canada. In partnership with provinces, territories and other key stakeholders, the program aims to fill in flood hazard information gaps by modelling and supporting the creation of flood hazard maps for areas at higher risk of flooding across Canada.

There are currently over 200 flood mapping projects impacting over 800 communities across Canada. FHIMP also reduces flood-related information gaps. The Canada Flood Map Inventory showcases areas in Canada where NRCan has collected a copy of a flood hazard study and maps and provides information on how to access the maps and data elsewhere: Canada Flood Map Inventory — GEO.CA

Jacobsen: How do updated flood maps benefit local communities?

Natural Resources Canada: Engineered flood hazard maps produced under the FHIMP can help strengthen public safety by informing land use planning (locating development away risky areas), emergency response plans (e.g. showing evacuation routes), insurability, structural flood mitigation options (e.g. where to build dykes), among other activities, thereby helping governments decide how to allocate resources necessary to protect properties and lives.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time.

Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.