New applied research network looks to advance flood resiliency in Canada

The Co-operators and Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan have announced the creation of the Partners for Action (P4A) Network at the University of Waterloo’s (UoW) Faculty of Environment, which will work to advance flood resiliency in Canada in the face of climate change.

The two founding partners have committed $1.1 million to the new applied research network, which will bring together a diverse set of stakeholders from business, government and non-governmental organizations to create and share knowledge, address information needs and drive action to better manage the risk posed by flooding, The Co-operators said in a press release last week. Its work will include monetizing the economic costs and benefits of adaptation, as well as the social and environmental co-benefits, and promoting the need for improved flood mapping across the country.

“A challenge of this magnitude and complexity requires a collaborative undertaking involving a wide variety of stakeholders. That’s the concept behind P4A,” Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, said in the release.

Steve Smith, president and CEO of Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan Inc., said that he welcomed the opportunity to support P4A. “Flooding affects more people globally than any other type of natural disaster and causes the largest economic, social and humanitarian losses,” Smith said in the release. “Advancing flood resiliency through research will help the insurance industry protect Canadians from financial loss caused by flooding.”

P4A will be led by a director in the Faculty of Environment, whose work will be supported by an advisory committee and a stakeholder committee, which will include many of the 60 participants from last summer’s Partners for Action roundtable, hosted by The Co-operators. One of the outcomes of that event was the undertaking of a study by researchers at the UoW assessing the preparedness of Canadian cities for extreme weather and flooding, the findings of which will be released this spring.

The director of P4A will be recruited this summer, the release said. In the months ahead, the advisory and stakeholder committees will be formed, and additional partners and financial supporters will be sought.