‘Significant gaps’ in climate resilience of Canada’s critical assets, audit finds
The Government of Canada is failing to adequately protect its critical infrastructure from risks associated with climate change, according to a report produced on behalf of the auditor general.
The Climate Resilience of Federal Assets and Services report by Jerry V. DeMarco, commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, was tabled on 4 May, and examines the progress being made on the government’s Greening Government Strategy.
It found that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s (TBS) oversight of the strategy to enhance the climate resilience of federal assets and services had “significant gaps”, including outdated and incomplete guidance, and a weak measuring and monitoring framework.
The report examined three departments – National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which jointly manage 67% of the value of the federal government’s physical assets – and found they had “made limited progress in translating climate risk assessments into meaningful action”.
The federal government manages the largest portfolio of non‑financial assets in Canada with more than 30,000 buildings, 20,000 engineering assets, and 40,000 fleet assets.
Of these, 1,623 are listed as ‘critical assets’, including bridges, roads, buildings and harbours. The audit found that in 2024-25, of the 275 of these critical assets identified as being at significant risk due the effects of global warming, only 3% had climate resilience plans in place.
“The lack of progress in this area undermines the protection of federal assets… and other assets and services under federal control, jeopardising the nation’s ability to safeguard essential services in the face of accelerating climate change,” the report says.
DeMarco added: “As Canada warms at twice the global average, accelerating efforts to protect federal assets and services will sustain communities and save taxpayers’ money over time.”
The report gives the example of small craft harbours, which directly support more than 45,000 jobs and “play a vital role in supporting the safety, economic vitality, and social fabric of fisheries-based communities”. These harbours are vulnerable to extreme weather, and require “immediate repairs and reinforcement”, DeMarco said.
The audit said the annual cost of damage to government infrastructure caused by climate change is estimated at between C$3bn and C$8bn (US$2.2bn and US$5.8bn) by 2030, and between C$6.2bn to C$13.5bn (US$4.5bn and US$9.9bn) by 2050.
“As the costs of climate-related events continue to rise, delays or the lack of proactive actions would increase the costs to Canadian society,” it says.
Read more: Government structures ill-equipped to deliver climate-resilient infrastructure, report finds
Absence of clear guidelines
The report found that the TBS had provided some guidance, tools, training and workshops to support departments and agencies in meeting the commitments of the Greening Government Strategy but that guidance was outdated, “leading departments and agencies to take different approaches and advance work on their own in the absence of clear guidelines”.
It also found that since the first iteration of the strategy in 2017, no funding had been provided to the TBS or relevant departments and agencies to support the achievement of climate-resilience commitments.
“[National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada] told us that having no dedicated funding for enhancing climate resilience created barriers in implementing actions… such as infrastructure upgrades involving significant investments.”
The report also found that the TBS did not collect results on progress towards commitments from the relevant departments and agencies, and that it hadn’t publicly reported on the strategy’s climate-resilience commitments and objectives during the first eight years.
“These gaps hindered informed policy decision making and diminished accountability,” the report says.
Read more: Adaptation efforts should be driven from the centre, climate advisers tell UK government
Moving goalposts
The Greening Government Strategy was launched in 2017 with the goals of reducing government emissions to net zero by 2050 and enhancing climate resilience by 2035.
Early versions of the strategy included commitments and objectives for all departments and agencies to take actions to assess and reduce climate change risks by 2022.
As the report explains, in 2024 these were replaced by long-term commitments to enhance climate resilience by 2035 and beyond after it was found that government organisations had failed to meet the original objectives.
The lack of interim targets meant that “the federal government and Canadians would not know whether planned progress was on track and would not have the opportunity to adjust,” the report says.
It added that the shift to long-term commitments was “concerning, as it did not convey a sense of urgency in line with Canada’s commitment under the Paris Agreement to undertake ambitious efforts to adapt to climate change and reduce vulnerability to climate change”.
Read more: Climate change an ‘increasing threat to democracy’, study finds
Recommendations
The report recommends that the TBS should “critically analyse and consider incentives and barriers to increase departmental capacity to facilitate the timely achievement of the long‑term objectives and commitments” set out in the strategy; define clear interim targets or develop an approach to course correct; and “ensure timely and public annual reporting… to improve transparency and equip decision-makers with the relevant information”.
Other recommendations include developing new guidance to address gaps, such as methodology to track costs, nature-based solutions, and climate-sensitive areas; improve governance mechanisms to track and share departmental concerns, lessons learned, and best practices; and integrate gender-based analysis and data into future updates of the strategy.
“By strengthening the resilience of its own assets and services, the federal government can help protect communities, reduce long-term costs, maintain essential services, and reduce impacts on populations at risk across Canada. Immediate and ongoing action is imperative to increase the resilience of federal assets and services,” the report says.
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
Related Posts
