Minister welcomes review of disaster recovery funding

Minister welcomes review of disaster recovery funding | Insurance Business Canada

Catastrophe & Flood

Minister welcomes review of disaster recovery funding

Expert panel shares recommendations

Catastrophe & Flood

By
Mika Pangilinan

An expert advisory panel tasked to examine the government’s approach to disaster recovery funding has made several recommendations aimed at delivering a more flexible, digitally streamlined program that incentivizes resilience and climate change adaptation.

The release of the report was announced last week by Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair, who welcomed the panel’s insights into the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program.

“The report’s findings and recommendations provide valuable insights and information to adapt disaster recovery funding in Canada so we can continue to support those in need and make communities more resilient to disasters moving forward,” he said.

The recommendations outlined in the panel’s final report were divided into two categories. The first set provides strategic recommendations for improving the DFAA program by shifting to outcome-driven goals with enhanced accountability, increasing flexibility for provinces and territories, and creating stronger incentives for all societal actors to reduce disaster risk. Meanwhile, the second set offers recommendations on how to address underlying gaps and challenges for aligning post-disaster financing with disaster risk reduction across the complex network of federal programs and overlapping mandates.

“The panel has framed its recommendations within the context of building forward together, which means not aiming to simply repair and recover losses incurred during a disaster event but to work in collaboration with each other toward building better, stronger and more risk-resilient communities,” said Rebecca Denlinger, panel chair and former deputy minister for emergency management in British Columbia. “We believe that implementing these recommendations will improve the long-term effectiveness and viability of disaster financing in Canada.”