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Adaptation, resilience and disaster mitigation program

Last updated on March 22, 2024

The Adaptation, Resilience and Disaster Mitigation (ARDM) program is a sub-stream under the Green Infrastructure umbrella.

The program will fund flood mitigation infrastructure projects for individual communities (up to $10 million), and joint applications submitted by multiple communities (up to $20 million). The program has a total of $81.865 million federal and provincial dollars to support projects that increase structural capacity and/or natural capacity with the intent of reducing, or even negating, the effects of flooding.

Note this is a different program than the Covid-19 Resilience and Infrastructure program (CVRIS-ARDM) that launched in January 2021.

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Project eligibility

A proposal will be deemed eligible if the project: 

  • is a new project (retroactive funding is not available)
  • builds, modifies or reinforces public infrastructure (including natural infrastructure) to prevent, mitigate or protect against floods and flood-related hazards
  • starts by October 7, 2024 and is completed by March 31, 2027

Full eligibility requirements are outlined in the program guide (PDF, 823KB).

Eligible applicants

  • Indigenous recipients – may submit one application
  • Municipalities – may submit one application
  • Regional districts – may submit one application for each electoral area, and one application from the regional district for a sub-regional or regional service

For more information, please see the Program guide (PDF, 823KB).

Eligible hazards

These are flood-related eligible hazards:

Riverine/Fluvial Flooding – flooding that occurs when creeks or rivers overflow onto dry land, typically resulting from snowmelt or heavy rainfall. This includes overflow of any natural drainage channels (such as rivulets, brooks, streams, rivers) and of various nature (such as rainfall, snowmelt, frazil, ice jam, break-up)

Urban/Pluvial Flooding – flooding that occurs during and after heavy rain or snow when water ponds in low-lying areas, particularly in urban areas if streets and drainage systems are overwhelmed. Daylighting projects eligible, routine stormwater maintenance projects ineligible

Coastal Flooding – flooding that occurs when the ocean levels are higher than normal due to tide or storm activity. Including overflow of all-natural shorelines to sea level rise or storm surge (e.g., lake shorelines, ocean coasts)

Debris Flows (also known as mudslides, mudflows, lahars, or debris avalanche) – a type of landslide that generally occurs during periods of intense rainfall or rapid snowmelt typically generated on steep slopes impacting downstream/downslope communities

 

Project financing and cost sharing

Applicants can apply for up to $10 million for individual communities and $20 million for joint proposals submitted by two or more neighbouring communities, for their flood mitigation project.

Applicants must be prepared to finance project construction, cost-share the project, and cover any cost over-runs. The program is claims based. The total federal and provincial contributions depend on the type of applicant. 

The percentage of federal and provincial contribution are:

Project cost-sharing breakdown

 

Government of Canada Contribution (up to)

Province of British Columbia Contribution

 Province of B.C. top up*

Total Federal/Provincial Government Contribution (up to)

Ultimate Recipient Contribution

Local government

40%

33.33%

 

73.33%

26.67%

Small communities (fewer than 5,000 people)

40%

33.33%

16.67%

90%

10%

Indigenous recipients

75%

 

15%

90%

10%

*B.C. top up grant

The province will provide an additional 15% to projects in small communities (communities with less than 5,000 people in Census 2021), and Indigenous recipients for their recipient contribution. Eligible applicants must enter this into LGIS as a part of their recipient contribution. This grant will be assessed after the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) application is submitted.

This funding is separate from ICIP. If approved, it will be used towards the ultimate recipient contribution. For more information regarding the top up grant, please email embcdisastermitigation@gov.bc.ca.

Further information can be found in the Program guide (PDF, 823KB).

Application

To apply for this funding follow these steps.

Before submitting an application

  1. First read these guides and determine if your project meets requirements and if your organization is eligible to apply:
  1. Ensure you have a business BCeID 
  2. Ensure you have access to the Local Government Information System (LGIS) - see Accessing the Online Application for details

Begin your application

  1. Register in LGIS to submit your application package - this can be saved and completed in multiple sessions
  2. Upload completed mandatory documents with your application, these may include but are not limited to:

Supporting documents

The following documents may be used to support the application; however, relevant information should be referenced within the application:

  • Prior risk assessments, flood maps, and mitigation plans if applicable
  • Letter of support
  • Options assessment
  • Business plan
  • Cost Benefit Analysis or other study
  • Environmental impact analysis
  • Design drawings or details
  • Record of consultation with Indigenous communities if applicable
  • Asset management plan (including natural assets where applicable)

Shortlisted project requirements

Shortlisted projects will receive ‘approval in principle’ from the Province. To receive Federal approval of a project into the program, shortlisted projects must complete these requirements by February 28, 2023:

For more information, please see the Program Guide (PDF, 823KB).

Evaluation

Eligible projects are subject to technical evaluation and ranked according to the extent to which they meet the program’s eligibility criteria and program goals. Funding programs are highly competitive, and it is anticipated that there will be more projects that qualify for funding than the allocated program funds. The amount of funding requests should be reasonable in comparison to the allocated funding.

Project resources

Once your project has been approved, refer to the the following documents for requirements and protocol:

Contact us

For questions about this program contact the Disaster Mitigation Unit by e-mail at EMBCDisasterMitigation@gov.bc.ca.