Wawanesa Mutual Insurance will be offering six grants worth $15,000 each to help support communities with their wildfire resilience and prevention activities.
The insurer is partnering with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and FireSmart Canada to make the wildfire prevention grants. The grants will support mitigation activities that are aligned with FireSmart Canada’s seven disciplines: education; emergency planning; vegetation management; legislation; development; interagency cooperation; and cross training.
“Climate change is here and one of the most destructive implications is the increased threat of wildfires,” said Wawanesa president of Canadian P&C operations Carol Jardine. As a Canadian owned and operated mutual company, we want to help communities across Canada improve their climate resilience and protect themselves, their homes and their businesses.”
“From 2008 to 2021, wildfires have cost Canadian insurers more than $4.6 billion, with over 87,000 claims filed,” explained ICLR executive director Paul Kovacs. “This represents only a portion of the overall costs caused by wildland fires, as uninsured public infrastructure is damaged, lives are disrupted, and individual health – both physical and mental – is affected.”
Kovacs added that Wawanesa’s leadership in supporting grants that are targeted at mitigating the impacts of wildfires will “help communities increase their resilience to this increasingly prevalent peril, serve as learning opportunities for other communities wishing to take action, and reduce the immense personal toll wildfires have on people and businesses.”
“FireSmart Canada is happy to provide support for and input towards Wawanesa’s Community Wildfire Prevention Grants,” said FireSmart Canada director Ray Ault. “This is an important initiative that will help Canadians increase their wildfire resilience.”
Submissions for grant applications will be accepted through Wawanesa’s website until December 01, 2022, 12pm CST. A committee of wildfire prevention subject matter experts from Wawanesa, ICLR, and FireSmart Canada will evaluate each application and choose six recipients. Grant recipients will be announced next year, March 1, 2023.
Wawanesa previously donated $150,000 to help relief efforts following Hurricane Fiona - $100,000 of the amount went to the Canadian Red Cross for the non-profit’s “Hurricane Fiona in Canada Appeal,” while the remaining $50,000 was used for a dollar-for-dollar donation matching program.
