How B.C. is preparing for climate change

Wildfire

• The Community Resiliency Investment Program assists Indigenous communities and local governments to reduce local wildfire threats through FireSmart (PDF, 131KB) and Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction
• B.C.’s cultural and prescribed fire initiative promotes healthy forests and reduces wildfire risk
• The Province is investing in wildfire risk reduction, reforestation, forest rehabilitation, and other efforts through the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C.
• Through StrongerBC, the Province is investing in projects that will reduce the risk of wildfires on Crown land while creating more than 500 jobs in rural communities
• B.C. is improving predictive services models to improve wildfire preparedness and response activities
• The B.C. FireSmart Begins at Home manual (PDF, 2.4MB) provides practical advice for individual British Columbians to reduce wildfire risk around their homes and properties
• A farm and ranch wildfire guide, workbook and instructional videos have been developed to help farmers and ranchers to prepare for future wildfires

Water scarcity and drought

• B.C.’s Drought and Water Scarcity Response Plan (PDF, 1.2MB) guides the work of provincial agencies in partnership with Indigenous governments, federal agencies and local governments
• The Water Sustainability Act includes regulatory tools to address water scarcity
• The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has developed industry-specific guides and templates to provide educational materials on various natural and human-caused threats to farms
• Climate and Agriculture Initiative BC has worked with partners to develop resources and tools to support adaptation to drier conditions and drought

Heat waves

• The BC Centre for Disease Control offers guidance for communities to develop their own extreme heat response plans
• HealthLinkBC provides public information on avoiding and responding to heat-related illness
• Dairy, poultry and berry producers in the Fraser Valley have been studying ways to protect their operations from extreme heat through Climate and Agriculture Initiative BC

Ocean warming and acidification

• In response to the Preliminary Strategic Climate Risk Assessment completed in 2019, which identified ocean acidification as a significant climate-change risk to B.C., the Province completed the B.C. Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH) Action Plan (PDF, 34MB). The OAH Action Plan identifies five goals, 15 objectives and 62 actions to address ocean acidification
• To provide more B.C.-relevant information about the science behind OAH, a companion document to the OAH Action Plan, the Scientific Assessment for the B.C. OAH Action Plan (PDF, 18.2MB), was also prepared
• ​B.C. and its partners in the Pacific Coast Collaborative have been monitoring and advancing research and encouraging action worldwide as part of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification
• The Climate Ready BC Seafood Program is a $1.7 million dollar fund that aims to enhance understanding of OAH in B.C. and support the resilience of B.C.’s coastal food security. View a complete list of the projects (PDF, 2.4MB) 
• In partnership with the B.C. government, B.C. shellfish growers and the Hakai Institute, Vancouver Island University's Deep Bay Marine Field Station are developing shellfish breeding programs to adapt locally grown shellfish to ocean acidification. The Ocean Acidification Shellfish Industry Seed Supply project was conceived in 2017 and is an example of a long-term climate change adaptation strategy

Flooding and sea level rise

• The Community Emergency Preparedness Fund helps to enhance the capacity of First Nations and local governments to reduce flood risk and respond effectively to adverse events. There have also been joint investments with the federal government under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) and the National Disaster Mitigation Program (NDMP)
• Provincial guidelines for land use in flood hazard areas are available
• Future sea level rise is included in coastal dike design and specifications for coastal floodplain maps
• The Province is working with B.C.’s professional engineers’ association to help engineers consider the changing climate in flood hazard assessments
• Climate & Agriculture Initiative BC has worked with partners to develop resources and tools to support agricultural adaptation to wetter conditions and flooding

Ecosystem changes

• Climate change considerations are integrated into park and protected areas planning, policy and infrastructure through BC Parks
• B.C. is collaborating with Indigenous communities and others to ensure land management decisions are grounded in the best available information
• BC Parks' Living Lab Program promotes protected areas as places to learn about climate change and manage for its impacts
• Climate change impacts are integrated into the planning and delivery of stewardship actions through the Together for Wildlife Strategy
• B.C. is working with Washington state to identify priority areas for conservation and developing a cross-border adaptation strategy for the Cascadia region
• The Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast initiative is a collaboration between the Province and 17 coastal First Nations that is applying an ecosystem-based management approach to resource stewardship

Agriculture

• Climate & Agriculture Initiative BC works with the agriculture and research sectors as well as governments to increase the resilience of B.C. agriculture to the impacts of climate change including drought and pests
• The Environmental Farm Plan Program supports farm operations to complete environmental and climate change risk assessments
• The Beneficial Management Practices program supports producers to implement practices identified through an Environmental Farm Plan
• The Farm Adaptation Innovator Program works to build adaptive capacity and encourage the adoption of effective farm practices to help mitigate impacts related to climate change

Forestry

• B.C.’s seed transfer project helps forests adapt to climate change by ensuring that seedlings selected for reforestation projects are well-adapted to the future climate
• Provincial Forest Stewardship Plans foster resilient forests and maintain future options and benefits in a changing climate
• The Tree Species Selection project is designed to define the current and future needs for decision making on informed tree species selection decision-making in B.C. in the context of climate change

Communities

• Guidance on sea dike design and coastal development helps protect people, buildings and infrastructure from sea level rise (PDF, 3.3MB)
• The Implementation Guide for Local Governments in B.C (PDF, 5.8MB) provides guidance on ways to implement climate change adaptation strategies
• The Low Carbon Resilience (LCR) Planning Handbook provides information on integrating low carbon resilience in local government planning

Buildings

• BC Health Authorities are working to reduce climate risks in planning and design to enable hospitals, long term care and other facilities to manage risks in operations per the Climate Resilience Guidelines for BC Health Facility Planning and Design

• BC Housing’s Mobilizing Building Adaptation and Resilience partners with more than 30 organizations to develop and pilot resilient building design solutions

Transportation

• Climate change impacts are considered in designing and maintaining highways, and adaptation practice guidelines help ensure a resilient transportation system
• The Province is investing more than $20 million through StrongerBC in projects across B.C. to increase the resiliency of the highway network to lessen the impacts of climate change and support economic recovery

Climate monitoring and assessment

• The Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium and UBC’s ClimateBC are making climate information and tools more widely accessible
• B.C. is strengthening hydrological monitoring (climate, snow, surface water, and groundwater) to support decision-making for drought, flood, infrastructure planning, and ecological modelling

Education

• The Master of Disaster program helps students in grades 4-8 learn about emergency preparedness and the impacts of climate change
• PreparedBC, B.C.'s emergency preparedness education program, is incorporating climate change into its core materials, including the Wildfire Preparedness Guide and Flood Preparedness Guide

Emergency management

• B.C. has adopted the United Nations’ Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction that recognizes the impact of climate change on the frequency and intensity of disasters
• The Province is modernizing the emergency management legislation to take a more comprehensive approach by placing a focus on disaster risk reduction and enhancing climate resilience
• Climate change considerations are included in B.C.’s emergency planning for such things as wildfires, droughts and floods
• Disaster mitigation funding programs incorporate criteria for climate adaptation into funding applications, project design and merit-based evaluations
• The Province has ongoing integrated operations with communities and emergency management partners before, during, and after emergency events
• The Partners in Preparedness program supports B.C. retailers and is aimed at making it easier for British Columbians to build a household emergency kit
• ClimateReadyBC helps the public and communities understand disaster and climate risks in B.C.