Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding program

The Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding (DRIF) program provides funding to First Nations and local governments in B.C. to enhance their capacity to withstand and adapt to natural and climate-driven hazards through:

• activities that bolster community resilience by providing data, building partnerships, and supporting long-term disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation planning, and
• structural and non-structural disaster risk reduction projects

Eligible hazards include:​

Wildfire-related projects (e.g.: FireSmart Community Funding and Supports) continue to be funded through  the Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) program.

Preparedness-related projects (e.g.: Emergency Operation Centres Equipment and Training, and Emergency Support Services Equipment and Training) continue to be funded through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF).

How to apply

To apply, First Nations and local governments who have the authority and ownership to develop, implement, maintain, and operate the proposed project can submit an expression of interest (EOI). The EOIs are assessed by the program criteria and successful EOIs will be invited to submit a full proposal with more technical and financial details.

For more information on program requirements, eligibility, and the application process, please see the DRIF Program Guide (PDF, 505KB).

Submit your EOI

Please reference this printable version of the EOI (PDF, 223KB) to review the information required. EOIs can be submitted through:

• an online form (requires Business BCeID to log in)
• by sending in a video or audio file by email to EMCR.DRIFprogram@gov.bc.ca
• a verbal EOI by phone or virtually, book an appointment by emailing EMCR.DRIFprogram@gov.bc.ca

For the verbal EOI, please ensure the conversation is booked no less than two weeks prior to the annual funding cutoff date (see deadline) to allow for processing time.

Deadline

EOIs are accepted on an ongoing basis. Selections are made annually, with funding decisions determined for that year. The cutoff date for 2024 was September 15th, 2024. The 2025 deadline will be posted in the new year.

Eligible EOIs from previous years may be selected. Where necessary, program staff may contact communities for updated information related to their submission.

Eligible project types

This funding is for new projects/phases of projects only. Examples include:

1. Activities that support community resilience by providing data, building partnerships, and supporting long-term disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation planning, such as:

• Risk mapping
• Flood-plain mapping
• A disaster risk reduction/climate adaptation plan or a multi-hazard/climate risk resilience plan
• Assessment of the community’s adaptive capacity
• Preliminary planning and design activities related to the development of proposed structural projects
• Benefit-cost analyses to assess the future risk reduction options under consideration and comparing the potential benefits to its costs, and
• Other innovative projects that improve knowledge of risks and disaster risk reduction solutions

2. Structural, non-structural, and natural infrastructure disaster risk reduction projects, including

• Structural:
  • Construction, replacement or upgrading of infrastructure (for example, dikes, dams, floodwalls, retention ponds, pump stations)
  • Installation of structural flood protection works, or upgrades/retrofits to modernize existing structural flood protection works
  • Slope stabilization projects relating to debris flow risk reduction
  • New or modified public cooling infrastructure
  • Movement or armoring of critical infrastructure, and
  • Daylighting or opening buried waterways and restoring to more natural conditions
• Natural infrastructure:
  • Wetland restoration and/or rain gardens, bioswales and infiltration bulges
  • Urban forests
  • Living dikes
  • Hybrid infrastructure projects including green roofs and walls, naturalized storm-water ponds;
  • Other projects that clearly demonstrate risk reduction potential and/or transferable learnings to other communities in B.C.
• Non-structural:
  • Risk mapping
  • Development of bylaws
  • Land use planning
  • Other non-structural solutions

Contact us

Contact our team by email at EMCR.DRIFprogram@gov.bc.ca.