Canada releases its first climate adaptation strategy

On November 24, 2022, Canada unveiled its first National Adaptation Strategy to help the country better prepare for climate change impacts including wildfires, flooding and extreme heat. Targeted measures are outlined in five system areas: disaster resilience, health and wellbeing, nature and biodiversity, infrastructure, and economy and workers.

Within these areas, the government has developed foundational objectives and goals. For example, one goal is to ensure “Canada’s economy is structured to anticipate, manage, adapt, and respond to climate change impacts…”. The Strategy will be implemented according to a more detailed Action Plan which includes 68 actions broken out by the five system areas.

Within economy and workers, the government has committed to improving supply chain resiliency through work with the National Supply Chain Task Force and understanding/mitigating risks facing Canada’s rail networks and supply chains, among other actions. In total, the Strategy will be supported by $1.6 billion in funding from the federal government.

Over the next few decades, climate change related events are expected to increasingly damage critical economic infrastructure leading to possible disruptions to retail businesses, including the availability of raw materials, energy, transportation networks and supply chain operations. RCC welcomes the National Adaptation Strategy and associated federal funding and will continue to monitor developments related to the federal government’s climate policy.