About – Climate Change Preparedness in the North Program

Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) provides funding for climate change adaptation projects in Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, Eeyou Istchee Territory and NunatuKavut.

The Climate Change Preparedness in the North program (CCPN) adopts a collaborative approach to climate adaptation by working with Indigenous and northern communities, territorial and regional governments and other stakeholders to identify priorities for climate change adaptation in the North. The program works alongside the regional Climate Change Committees on Adaptation to ensure that projects are created and implemented using the knowledge and experiences of Indigenous and northern communities. The program provides support to northern communities and organizations to help them adapt to climate change impacts by funding the following types of projects:

  • vulnerability and risk assessment of climate change impacts
  • development of hazard maps and adaptation plans
  • development of adaptation options
  • implementation of non-structural and structural adaptation measures

Here are some examples of adaptation measures:

  • Development of new bylaws for land management or community development plans that take into account climate change.
  • Revision of procedures for proper drainage, snow build-up removal along homes or roads.
  • Creation of guidance or best practices documents related to climate change adaptation.
  • Redesign, retrofit or upgrade vulnerable or at-risk infrastructure assets in areas affected by permafrost degradation.
  • Implementation of flood-proof standards for communities in flood risk areas.
  • Implementation of coastal erosion prevention measures for at-risk infrastructure.
Learn More - Climate Change Preparedness in the North Program

Examples of Previous Climate Change Preparedness in the North Program Projects

Yukon Territory

Funding to support the Yukon Research Center in collaboration with Jean Marie River First Nation to expand permafrost vulnerability assessments and to create vulnerability maps, including 2 key and currently unmapped traditional harvest areas.

Funding to staff a climate change community liaison position to help communities in the region identify and put forward proposals that respond to the impacts of climate change by using adaptation measures.

Funding to support the analysis and planning of climate change within Southern Lakes region by integrating the mapped areas of climate resilience as well as the predictions of wildlife habitat based on a changing climate and future spring snow distributions.

Funding to create a first-of-its-kind 4-season greenhouse farm for increasing the local growing season of fresh produce from 5 months to up to 12 months and creating a year-round teaching and working venue for their citizens and the broader community.

Funding to continue the forest fire mitigation treatment recommended in the Taku River Tlinglit First Nation Strategic Wildfire Prevention Plan.

Northwest Territories

Funding to increase public safety and reduce future erosion damage through the identification of coastal erosion hazards, as well as the movement of houses from the areas experiencing erosion. The Government of Northwest Territories and the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk are implementing a suite of potential measures, which are identified in the Tuktoyaktuk coastal erosion mitigation plan in order to reduce the impacts of coastal erosion in the community of Tuktoyaktuk.

Funding to facilitate the generation, documentation, and two-way sharing of observations, experiences and knowledge of changing climatic conditions and the costs of hunting among hunters, researchers and decision makers. It enhances the safety and success of hunters and provides information for decision making to adapt to changing climatic conditions.

Funding to investigate the increasing occurrences in flooding of the Behchokǫ̀ Cemetery and to develop remediation options aimed at rectifying the problem.

Funding to incorporate climate change considerations, such as permafrost degradation risk and frost protection, in new infrastructure projects through a geotechnical investigation of an area designated for development as a residential subdivision.

Funding to address barriers to the production of local food in a number of communities across the South Slave and Dehcho regions. The project identifies areas for present and future agricultural development and uses pilot-scale food growing projects to build local capacity and develop agricultural best management practices specific to a community’s soil types. It also contributes to policy development and knowledge sharing with other communities in the Northwest Territories.

Nunavut

Funding to understand Inuit communities use of accessibility for WWIC information and services and involves developing a survey that can be facilitated systematically across all four regions of Inuit Nunangat.

Funding to develop a community drainage plan in the Hamlet of Arviat in response to increasing flooding and drainage issues as the result of climate change.

Funding to implement measures based on historical and projected water use data that ensure sufficient water supply in the City of Iqaluit’s Lake Geraldine reservoir to satisfy the City’s water intake during the 9 months winter.

Funding to assess vulnerabilities and risks based on a combination of remote sensing and Inuit knowledge. From there develop an archaeology module that will form part of the Inuinnait Knowledge Bank and use the resulting analysis for adaptation planning. By recording Inuinnait knowledge on climate change and terrain instability impacts, it provides an opportunity for Inuinnait youth to be employed in the field and benefit from the knowledge transfer from being engaged with Elders and professional archaeologists.

Funding to update the Cape Dorset Community Plan and Zoning By-Laws and it would be useful to have a drainage plan in place prior to final adoption, so that the review can utilize drainage data and implement drainage planning in a coordinated way for both the existing town site and planned future subdivisions identified in the Community Plan.

Nunavik

Funding to staffing of a climate change community liaison position to help communities in the region identify and put forward proposals that respond to impacts of climate change using adaptation measures.

Funding to extend the overland trail to exit onto and enter from the sea ice at a location further to the north. The trail extension work would comprise of moving rocks and marking the trail. The project duration would be 14 days.

Funding to maintain the Qingaujaq river as a char river, and to better control the spring melt/runoff from the Qinqaujaq watershed which washes out the road out of town in several places.

Funding to allow for on-site work and local coordination to restore spawning site. Work with hydrologist and biologist, including on-site supervision and preparation of a report.

Funding to:

  • establish a trail system south of the community to important harvesting and camping sites, so that hunters don’t have to rely on increasingly dangerous ice, and are able to reach sites that are becoming impossible to get to now
  • have freezers at 2 important harvesting sites, so that harvested meat (beluga and goose) can be safely stored during prolonged hunts in increasingly warmer climate, and so that all the harvest can then be safely transported back to the community

Funding to staff a climate change community liaison position to help communities in the region identify and put forward proposals that respond to the impacts of climate change by using adaptation measures.

Funding to implement The Going Off, Growing Strong Program, which is a youth outreach program that enhances youth mental health by supporting social-cultural connections while improving food security in a changing environment.

Funding to conduct infrastructure assessment on an existing building belonging to Nunatsiavut Government’s Department of Health to determine any potential impacts of climate change to the building and any modifications that might be needed as a result.

Funding to conduct ice-hazard monitoring of all 5 communities within the Nunatsiavut region and Upper Lake Melville region by collecting spatial data, completing hazards maps, engaging community to communicate the gathered knowledge. Information, including maps, about polynyas throughout the seasons is provided to the kayak revival program.

Funding to continue and improve the use of land-based workshops (in Makkovik and Rigolet) as a culturally appropriate and effective way to communicate about climate change research and activities in order to enhance opportunities for adaptation in light of climatic and socio-economic changes in Arctic communities.

NunatuKavut

Funding to support the staffing of a climate change support and coordination officer in the NunatuKavut Community Council. This position assists the Council to build internal capacity related to climate change adaptation in the territory.

Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory

Funding to develop climate change adaptation plans: one focused on the infrastructures and a broader one at a community level. A preliminary step to the adaptation planning would be to assess the vulnerability of the community and its infrastructures to current and future climate change using the Engineers Canada Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee tool.

Funding to assess the vulnerability of the community and its infrastructure to the effects of current and future climate change.

Pan-Canadian

Funding to support and coordinate the northern participation of those who are working on climate change adaptation projects.

Funding to create a report which will work to identify the barriers and opportunities for transformative climate resilient infrastructure investments in Inuit Nunangat.

Funding to support travel and participation at the ArcticNet Conference 2019 to all members of the five Climate Change committees on Adaptation (approximately 53 people from Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut).

Funding to develop a greater awareness of climate change adaptation in Canada’s North by continuing to support the adaptation-specific education program, translation of adaptation-focused videos in the North into French, and increasing capacity for Arctic youth participation on Students on Ice Arctic expeditions.

Funding to assess particular landfast ice dynamics for the purpose of developing a user-friendly sea ice breakup prediction model. The investigation combines archived satellite imagery, in situ environmental data and local Indigenous knowledge to inform patterns, timing and mechanisms of landfast ice breakup in recent years. The resulting model enables safer travel over sea ice for community members.