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Financial assistance in a disaster

Last updated on October 30, 2025

Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) is a program intended to help you recover from uninsurable losses caused by a disaster or emergency event, such as a flood, that has resulted in extensive or widespread damage. If an event qualifies for DFA, eligible applicants may receive financial support for essential recovery needs.

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Application process

Step 1: Authorized events

If you've recently been affected by a disaster, contact your Indigenous or local government to report property damages. Additionally, contact your insurance broker to see if you’re covered by insurance.

There are currently no authorized events.

Review Interim Policy 5.09 – Disaster Financial Assistance Authorization to learn how an event is authorized for DFA.

Step 2: Review eligibility criteria and eligible/ineligible expenses

DFA is meant to compensate for sudden, unexpected, and uninsurable essential losses. This may include building repairs, replacement of essential personal effects, equipment and inventory, clean up and debris removal.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants may apply to more than one category, but each must be a separate application.

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Homeowners

  • You must have occupied the property as your principal residence at the time of the event.
  • Seasonal or recreational properties aren’t eligible. If you are a landlord, you must apply and qualify as a small business owner.
  • If you rent out part of your home, like a basement suite, that part doesn’t count as your main home. To claim damage for that space, you might need to apply separately as a landlord under the small business category, if you qualify.
 

Residential tenants

  • You must have occupied the property as your principal residence at the time of the event. Seasonal or recreational properties are not eligible.
 

Charitable/non-profit organizations

  • Must provide a benefit or service to the community
  • Must have been in existence for at least 12 months
  • Must be registered under the provincial Societies Act
 

Landlords or small business owners

Your business or rental must:

  • Be managed by the owner on a day-to-day basis
  • Have grossed at least $10,000 but less than $2 million in revenue in the year immediately
  • Employ fewer than 50 employees at one time
  • Demonstrate that, without the claimed assistance, the future of the business could be placed in financial jeopardy. Financial jeopardy is defined as when the assistance payment to repair the damage would exceed 10 percent of the net income of the business
 

Farm owners

Your farm must:

  • Be identified as a developing or established agricultural operation
  • Be owned and operated by a person whose full-time employment is as a farmer 
  • Be the means by which the owner derives the majority of their income 
  • Demonstrate that, without the claimed assistance, the future of the farm operation could be placed in financial jeopardy. Financial jeopardy is defined as when the assistance payment to repair the damage would be greater than 10 percent of the net income of the farm operation
  • If the farm operation does not meet these criteria, you may still be able to apply under the small business owner category.

 

Ineligible damage

Insurable damages in the private sector are not eligible.

This includes damage caused by:

  • Wildfires 
  • Earthquakes
  • Snow load
  • Wind storms
  • Sewer or sump pit back-up
  • Water entry from above ground, (such as water entering through roofs, windows, walls or other sources located above the ground level)

Some ineligible items include:

  • Insurance deductibles
  • Non-essential and recreational items
  • Land lost due to erosion
  • Landscaping
  • Luxury goods

For full details, refer to the schedules below.

Determining if your damages are insurable or uninsurable

Contact your insurance broker as a first step. They will provide you with information about your insurance coverage.

Program staff are available to discuss how your insurance relates to your eligibility and application.

How compensation is calculated

Financial assistance is provided for each accepted claim at 80 per cent of the amount of total eligible damage less $1,000, to a maximum of $400,000.

Eligible essential contents are compensated based on median value of the base model item. For example, a damaged TV would be compensated based on the value of a median priced base model TV regardless of the type or quality the applicant owned.

Structural compensation is limited to the cost to repair eligible damage caused by the event, using standard industry rates for things like drywall repair, debris removal, carpet removal and replacement.

Detailed information on expenses and program guidelines

Step 3: Submit application

Applications must be submitted within 90 days of the disaster being declared eligible for DFA. 

  1. Review required documentation for the category/categories you are applying for (see below)
  2. Complete the individuals and organizations application form available through the EMCR Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) application portal
  3. Have your insurance broker complete the appropriate insurance template to include with your application:
  4. Upload all required documents as directed 
  5. Submit your application

Required documentation

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Homeowner

If you're applying for a rental property, please see the small business category. As part of your application, you need to provide:

 

Residential tenant

As part of your application, you need to provide:

  • A copy of your rental agreement, lease, or other documentation to show that you are/were legally occupying the damaged property at the time of the event
  • A copy of government issued identification such as Driver's License, BC Services Card, or BC ID
  • You need to give proof of what your insurance covered:
 

Small business/farm owner

As part of your application, you need to provide:

  • Proof of what your insurance covered:
    • Ask your insurance broker to fill out the insurance template provided below
    • Include any payout documents in your application, when you get them.
  • You may be required to provide the following, if applicable:
    • Lease Agreements
  • Financial documents – see categories below for what documents are required depending on your business structure.
    • General or Sole Proprietorship or DBA name:
      • Completed T1 general tax return with supporting schedules for all owners.
      • Most recently filed financial statements
    • Corporate (Ltd./Inc.) Company:
      • Proof of ownership (Central Securities Register or Partnership Agreement)
      • Completed T2 with supporting schedules.
      • Company income statement and balance sheet used for income tax purposes.
 

Landlord

As part of your application, you need to provide:

  • Complete T1 general income tax returns for all owners of rented property
  • T776 Statement of real estate rentals
  • Residential tenancy agreement

You may be required to provide the following, if applicable:

  • Lease Agreements

You need to give proof of what your insurance covered:

  • Ask your insurance broker to fill out the insurance template provided below
  • Include any payout documents in your application, when you get them.
 

Charitable / Non-profit organization

As part of your application, you need to provide:

  • A listing of the Directors, including their contact and address information
  • Proof of the organization's registration (must include registration date) under the BC Societies Act and annual fillings
  • A statement outlining the organization’s benefit or service to the community
  • Any other documentation supporting how the organization meets the eligibility criteria for DFA

If applicable, you will also need to provide:

  • Lease agreements
  • You need to give proof of what your insurance covered:
    • Ask your insurance broker to fill out the insurance template provided below
    • Include any payout documents in your application, when you get them.

 

There are steps you should take as soon as possible after your home has been damaged or destroyed. Visit Disaster recovery information for the public - Province of British Columbia for general information on recovery, including cleaning up after a flood. If applying for DFA, damage can be assessed before or after it has been repaired. Please take photos or videos of the damage and keep all related receipts for repairs done before being assessed by an evaluator.

Determination and appeals

The DFA program will make a determination on your application based on the eligibility outlined in the regulation. Once you've received your determination, you will have a maximum of 60 days to submit an appeal. Below is an outline of what to expect during both processes.

Making a determination

  1. You'll be contacted to discuss your application and damages, and if applicable, we may request additional information to confirm category eligibility. You may view the current status of your application on your Disaster Financial Assistance portal dashboard.
    • Be prepared to take calls about your application during and outside of standard government office hours
    • If your mailing address, phone number, or email changes after applying, please notify us
    • Submit any documents requested as quickly as possible
  2. Once eligibility has been determined, your file may be assigned to an evaluator who will contact you to assess the damage
  3. Once a complete file review has been performed, a decision letter will be sent regarding your eligibility for funding and the decision will be reflected on your application status on your DFA portal dashboard. 
  4. If funding is approved, a cheque will be sent to your mailing address. You'll also receive a payment letter by mail or email, and the decision will be reflected on your application status in your DFA portal dashboard.

Appeals

You may appeal a determination based on:

  1. Eligibility (you receive an ineligible determination), or
  2. Amount (you disagree with the amount you are eligible for)

To appeal a determination, you must register your appeal in writing by submitting an appeal within 60 days of receiving a decision on your application on your DFA portal dashboard by selecting the “Appeal Decision” option.

For events that occurred prior to September 2025, appeals must be submitted in writing via mail or email by contacting:

 

By email: DFA.Appeals@gov.bc.ca 

By mail:
Director
Disaster Financial Assistance Program
PO Box 9201 Stn Prov Govt
​Victoria, B.C. V8W 9J1

What to include:

  • Provide your rationale for the appeal
  • Include any additional supporting documentation previously not provided

A fair and equitable review of the appeal will be conducted. This includes:

  • Each appeal is assigned to an Appeals Adjudicator for review
  • You may be contacted for additional information, or to arrange an on-site visit
    • You will always have 21 calendar days to reply to these inquiries. After 21 days, the review will continue with what we have on file
  • After the review, a recommendation will be made to uphold or overturn the initial decision. You may view the status of your appeal at any time in the DFA portal dashboard.  

You will receive the appeal decision in writing via mail, or email and the decision will be reflected on your appeal on the DFA portal dashboard. Decisions made as a result of an appeal are considered final.

  • If an eligibility appeal is overturned, you will be provided with next steps
  • If an appeal is overturned:
    • If the amount is determined to be higher, additional funds will be provided 
    • If the amount is determined to be less, you will be required to repay the overpaid amount within 60 days 

Note that appeals decisions are based on the legislation that was in force at the time of the event. For more details on the appeals process, please refer to the ​Disaster Financial Assistance Guidelines (PDF, 315KB) and policy 5.16 DFA appeals (PDF, 194KB).

​Contact us

For questions or more information, contact the Disaster Financial Assistance team.