The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has responded to the federal government’s housing plan, saying a key area of focus is “notably absent” from the strategy that was released last week.
IBC vice president for climate change and federal issues Craig Stewart (pictured) said the plan failed to account for the increased climate risk that impacts Canadian households.
“The federal government’s new housing strategy appears to lack the necessary focus to ensure that the new homes the country needs are resilient to climate change,” Stewart said. “We are awaiting further details to appear in Budget 2024 and remain committed to working with the federal government to prioritize climate change resilience measures.”
Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan consists of three main points – building more homes, making it easier to rent or own, and helping those who can’t afford a home. As previously reported, millions of new homes need to be built by 2030 to restore housing affordability in the country.
“While we commend the federal government for delivering a plan to build 3.87 million new homes by 2031, these new homes must be built in the right way and in the right places,” Stewart commented further.
“The federal government must lead by urgently updating the National Building Code to incorporate resilience and deploy necessary programming restrictions to discourage continued building and rebuilding of homes in high-risk flood and wildfire zones.”
The IBC vice president, who believes the choices made now will determine how prepared Canada will be in the future, went on to assert that the announcement lacked substantive details.
“[It] appears to be a missed opportunity to deliver on the government’s own target of ensuring resilience to climate change impacts is factored into all new federal infrastructure funding programs by 2024, as set out in the National Adaptation Strategy,” Stewart said.
“A housing strategy is the right place to incorporate these climate resilience measures as recommended by the Task Force for Housing and Climate and Climate Proof Canada.”
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