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Canada helps protect communities across the Greater Toronto Area from flooding and storms

Newwire.ca
March 27, 2019
Infrastructure Canada

Now more than ever, communities need help adapting to the frequent and intensifying weather events caused by climate change. Reducing the impact of natural disasters such as flooding is critical to keeping Canadian families safe, protecting local businesses and supporting a strong economy.

The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, today announced funding for four major flooding and storm mitigation projects in the City of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York that will make these communities more resilient to natural disasters.

Over 2,400 residents in mid-town Toronto will benefit from basement flooding protection with the construction of a relief storm sewer that services an area of over 75 hectares. Increasing the capacity of an overloaded storm sewer system will protect buildings from potential flooding and sewer backup, reducing both property damage and the devastating effects on families.

The York Durham Sewage System Forcemain Twinning Project will twin the existing 35-year old main sewage conduit to minimize potential spills, particularly during storms. This will protect the environment, reduce service interruptions, and safeguard the health of over 133,000 residents for the communities of East Gwillimbury, Newmarket and Aurora.

The City of Markham Flood Control Project will help protect vulnerable areas from flooding, including the Don Mills Employment Lands, and the West Thornhill Community. Past floods have damaged properties, disrupted businesses, affected roads, and even impacted a retirement home in West Thornhill. Families, businesses and seniors will benefit from an improved system to better handle storms, meaning a safer and healthier community for 18,000 residents.

More than 35,000 people in Vaughan will benefit from stormwater flood mitigation projects that will improve water quality and reduce the impact of flooding. These improvements will preserve essential services for families, reduce costly losses, and save the community money in the long-term.

The Government of Canada is investing over $150 million in these projects through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, with municipal governments providing the remainder.

Quotes

"Taking real steps now to adapt to climate change reduces the devastating impacts of natural disasters on Ontario families and businesses. By investing today in flood and storm mitigation projects in the GTA, we are minimizing the costly effects of future weather hazards on Torontonians. This helps protect homes and businesses, maintain safe drinking water, and enable families and their children to prosper for generations to come."

The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

"Extreme weather is becoming more severe, more frequent, more damaging and more expensive because of climate change. By investing in the infrastructure that protects our neighbourhoods, businesses, and families, we are building communities that can withstand future natural disasters and thrive for generations to come."

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety

"Toronto is experiencing more severe storms, with more rain falling over a short amount of time. This increases pressure on the sewer system and drainage routes, which leads to basement flooding. This federal government funding partnership is important in helping advance the Midtown Toronto Relief Storm Sewer – part of the city-wide Basement Flooding Protection Program."

His Worship John Tory, Mayor, City of Toronto

"Like many parts of the world, York Region is experiencing the impacts of a changing climate. The protection of our environment is essential to a thriving community. These important infrastructure investments by the Canadian government and York Regional Council reinforce our joint commitment to addressing the impacts of climate change while building safe, caring and resilient communities."

York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson

"Markham's older neighbourhoods were designed with limited infrastructure capacity to handle extreme rainfall. Through Markham's Flood Control Project, we continue to upgrade existing infrastructure to improve flood resiliency and protect our neighbourhoods against the effects climate change or extreme rainfall. This investment will increase capacity and reduce potential flood damage in the Don Mills and West Thornhill communities, protecting our most vulnerable homes and businesses, while building strong and resilient communities our residents can feel safe in now, and for future generations."

His Worship Frank Scarpitti, Mayor, City of Markham

"We know that extreme weather and natural disasters can have devastating consequences for families and communities. In the City of Vaughan, it is our priority to make ongoing investments in the critical infrastructure that helps keep our residents safe, provides protection to our business community and maintains the high quality of life in our neighbourhoods. Making life better for citizens is our priority – in fact, 97 per cent of Vaughan residents say they are happy with the quality of life here. We are encouraged by these results and by working together with our city-building partners in the federal government, we will continue to deliver positive outcomes for the people of Vaughan."

The Honourable Maurizio Bevilacqua, Mayor, City of Vaughan

Quick facts

The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) is a $2-billion, 10-year program to help communities build the infrastructure they need to better withstand natural hazards such as floods, wildfires, earthquakes and droughts.
DMAF is part of the federal government's Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, which is providing more than $180 billion over 12 years for public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and rural and northern communities.
Investing in green infrastructure that helps communities cope with the intensifying effects of climate change is an integral part of Canada's transition to a more resilient, low-carbon economy, which is among the commitments made under the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.
Budget 2019, Investing in the Middle Class, is the government's plan to create more good well-paying jobs, put homeownership within reach of more Canadians, help working people get the training they need to succeed, support seniors, and lay the foundation for national pharmacare.
Announcements in Budget 2019 build on the Government's Investing in Canada Plan, under which the Government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years to build infrastructure in communities across the country.
With many municipalities across Canada facing serious infrastructure deficits, Budget 2019 proposes a one-time transfer of $2.2 billion through the federal Gas Tax Fund to address short-term priorities in municipalities and First Nations communities.
Associated links

Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/dmaf-faac/index-eng.html

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

Federal infrastructure investments in Ontario: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/investments-2002-investissements/on-eng.html

Investing in Canada plan project map: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/gmap-gcarte/index-eng.html

Budget 2019: https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/home-accueil-en.html

Backgrounder

Canada helps protect communities across the Greater Toronto Area from flooding
and storms

Four new projects approved in four communities in the City of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York

Climate change is happening and it is affecting Canadian communities from coast-to-coast-to-coast. More and more Canadians realize that natural hazards like floods, wildland fires and winter storms are increasing in frequency and intensity. For many communities, these hazards are significantly affecting critical infrastructure and can result in health and safety risks, interruptions in essential community services and increasingly high costs for recovery and replacement.

The Government of Canada's Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) is a 10-year, $2 billion national program designed to help communities better withstand current and future risks of natural hazards.

The following four projects in the Greater Toronto Area have been approved for federal funding totaling $150,388,299 and for municipal funding totaling $252,682,449.

Location

Project Name

Federal Funding

Municipal Funding

Toronto, City of

Construction of the Midtown Toronto Relief Storm Sewer for Basement Flooding Protection

$37,160,000

$82,840,000

York, Regional Municipality of

York Durham Sewage System Forcemain Twinning Project

$48,000,000

$72,000,000

Markham, Corporation of the City of

City of Markham's Flood Control Project
(Don Mills Channel, West Thornhill, Thornhill Community Centre)

$48,640,000

$72,960,000

Vaughan, City of

Implementing Vaughan Stormwater Flood Mitigation projects

$16,588,299

$24,882,449

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

For further information: Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, 613-697-3778, ann-clara.vaillancourt@canada.ca; Kris Scheuer, Senior Communications Coordinator, Strategic Communications, City of Toronto, 416-906-3935, kris.scheuer@toronto.ca; Jennifer Mitchell, Manager, Corporate Communications, Corporate Services, The Regional Municipality of York, 1-877-464-9675, jennifer.mitchell@york.ca; Lama Nicolas, Senior Communications Advisor, Office of the Mayor, City of Markham, 416-671-2890, lnicolas@markham.ca; Michael Genova, Director, Corporate and Strategic Communications, City of Vaughan, 416-949-0121, michael.genova@vaughan.ca; Media Relations, Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: infc.media.infc@canada.ca