Resilient communities
Ottawa is home to one million residents living in varied communities across a wide geographic region. Climate change will have significant impacts on the livability of our city. Many of the top climate risks relate to:
- The physical and mental health of residents and visitors
- Preparing for heat, flooding and extreme weather
- Negative impacts on food security
- The impact on the economy, including tourism and farming.
These impacts come with significant costs to individuals, businesses, organizations, and governments.
Building equity is a priority. While everyone will be impacted by climate change, certain populations are disproportionally impacted due to increased exposure to climate hazards. For example, they work outside or live in an area prone to flooding or wildfire, or because of the systemic barriers they face.
We need to build capacity and remove barriers so that everyone can prepare for climate change. This includes those who have less resources or capacity to prepare for, respond to or recover from climate impacts. Building climate preparedness is a shared responsibility and the City can play a role through education, policies and programs.
Key actions proposed to increase community preparedness for climate change
- Education and outreach for communities and businesses on how to prepare for and protect from climate risks such as extreme heat, flooding, food security, and tick and mosquito diseases. Targeted outreach to those more at risk, including seniors, newcomers, and people living alone, and in multilingual formats.
- Support communities and local partners to take action including information and funding for community organizations and social service agencies for climate preparedness programs.
- Provide more places to cool off such as trees, splash pads, shade structures, drinking water and misting stations. Prioritize them in areas most in need. Explore ways to increase access to cooling in housing for low-income residents, such as through regulations or incentives.
- Expand flooding education and preparedness programs such as the Residential Protective Plumbing Program and Rain Ready Ottawa to support homeowners to take action to prepare for heavy rains.
- Develop and strengthen flood preparedness and response plans based on updated riverine flood mapping and forecasting developed by Conservation Authorities. Prohibit new development in the regulatory riverine floodplain and require flood mitigation for development in areas at risk during a more severe riverine flood. Educate homeowners on the steps they can take to reduce riverine flood risks and advocate for increased support from other levels of government for flood mitigation and recovery. Continue to enhance programs that reduce the risk of overland and basement flooding and sewer overflows during heavy rains.
- Support agricultural and food systems to adapt to changing climate conditions and encourage local food production.
Additional actions to support resilient communities are covered in the extreme weather preparedness and response, natural environment and parklands, and resilient buildings, transportation and water systems sections.
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