Ontario Regional Adaptation Collaborative

2011/08 (a)

Backgrounder

To prepare effectively for climate change and its impacts, decision-makers need regionally relevant tools, knowledge, networks and policies. To address these needs, the Government of Canada has been partnering with provinces and organizations across the country in delivering the Regional Adaptation Collaborative (RAC) program. Under this program, each region of Canada is developing solutions for region-specific issues related to climate change.

The $6.8-million Ontario Regional Adaptation Collaborative (Ontario RAC) is funded as part of an $85.9-million investment by the Government of Canada. The Ontario initiative aims to improve the ability of Ontarians to prepare for climate change through three inter-related initiatives and their associated activities:

• Managing the risks of extreme weather:
  • risk assessment and management tools for municipalities
  • best practices for construction of buildings  
  • decision-support tool for extreme heat events response
• Managing water resources:
  • web-based climate change adaptation guidance for local communities and its application for watershed management
  • risk assessments and recommendations for source water protection
  • network of practitioners to share knowledge and build capacity
• Integrating adaptation into community plans and policies:
  • urban and rural/northern targeted information, tools and training

The Ontario RAC involves extensive collaboration and $3.3 million over three years from Natural Resources Canada, as well as matching or in-kind funding from seven regional partners, including the Government of Ontario, the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Toronto Public Health and York University.

The Ontario RAC is one of six regional adaptation collaborative projects planned under Natural Resources Canada’s RAC funding program. The goal of the program is to integrate climate change adaptation into a variety of existing planning and decision-making processes. The Ontario RAC addresses issues identified in the scientific findings of the Ontario chapter of the report From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007. 

Ontario RAC Partners

Media can contact:

Richard Walker
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-996-2007

Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-992-4447

NRCan's news releases and backgrounders are available at www.nrcan.gc.ca/media/index-eng.php.