Coastal adaptation and flood mitigation capacity
Building resilience: Canada’s coastal adaptation and flood mitigation capacity
Did you know? Canada has the longest coastline in the world, bordering three major oceans – the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic.
Flooding is a major global problem, particularly in coastal zones, along rivers and in urban areas. With the world’s longest coastline and many urban settlements situated along coasts and rivers, Canada has developed world-class expertise in managing flood risk.
Climate change is expected to increase flood risk through sea level rise, more frequent coastal storms and more extreme precipitation, and there is an urgent need to build community resilience. Canadian firms have the expert knowledge and experience to design strategies to protect people, property and infrastructure from climate change and flood risks, as proven through their projects in countries around the world.
Canada’s areas of strength in coastal adaptation and flood risk mitigation
- Industry leading multi-hazard risk assessment and analysis
- Collaboration with local partners that is mindful of local culture, heritage and economic conditions
- Capacity building and technical training for local experts
- Climate change impact and adaptation monitoring systems
- Award-winning technology including original monitoring and forecasting tools
- Adaptation program monitoring and evaluation
- Transparent access to data and information
- Online decision support systems for flood risk management
- GIS-based hazard information and mapping
- Evidence-based, replicable and auditable adaptation solutions
Canadian companies are renowned for their unique capabilities in blending technical tools, such as risk assessment, forecasting and decision support, with local capacity building, stakeholder engagement and collaboration. Ethical practices, along with on-time and on-budget delivery, are hallmarks of the Canadian advantage and readily transfer to projects in international markets.
Take advantage of Canada’s expertise in developing resilient, cost-effective and sustainable infrastructure, tailored to your market.
The Canadian advantage: good governance, fairness and transparency, innovation in climate adaptation, leveraging local skills and capabilities, technology transfer, financial stability, project-delivery efficiencies, and value for money.
Canadian successes around the world
Dillon Consulting: Designing comprehensive solutions for flood risk reduction for Saint Lucia
When Hurricane Thomas caused severe flooding in the Cul-de-Sac River basin in 2010, the Government of Saint Lucia turned to Dillon Consulting for solutions. Dillon evaluated the watershed’s climatic, hydrologic and hydraulic conditions; developed flood risk mapping; and designed structural and non-structural flood risk mitigation works. Dillon engaged with stakeholders, recommended ways to build resilience to severe flooding and provided technology transfer training. Dillon’s team includes experts in water engineering, environmental management, community development, and public and private institutional capacity building. Dillon recently completed the National Physical Develop Plan for Dominica and is working on the same plan for the British Virgin Islands. Both plans involve coastal management and climate change. The firm has experience working in Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. dillon.ca
Baird: Combatting coastline erosion in Keta, Ghana, through sea defences, a coastal highway and 800 hectares of reclaimed beach lands
In this US$100 million project, Baird developed a permanent solution to shoreline erosion threatening the community of Keta, Ghana, while protecting homes, strengthening infrastructure and reclaiming environmentally sensitive beach lands. Baird spearheaded all aspects of the project, including planning, analysis, conceptual and final design, site management and coordination. Through an extensive analysis of physical site conditions, a detailed shoreline analysis and a full geotechnical and geologic investigation, Baird designed robust solutions to mitigate the risk of storm surge and flooding. Baird is a global leader in innovative coastal and river engineering solutions with over 35 years of proven experience on some of the most challenging coastal adaptation projects. baird.com
Canada’s coastal adaptation and flood mitigation sector is ready to provide complete solutions.
Canada is home to established industry leaders and practitioners with proven track records in delivering coastal adaptation and flood mitigation solutions. Canadian companies are equipped to deliver innovative solutions to adaptation and flood mitigation in markets around the world.
ESSA Technologies: Strengthening El Salvador’s disaster preparedness, emergency response and climate resilience
El Salvador is highly susceptible to climate change and disaster risks, including severe storms, floods and landslides. Nearly 28% of its coastal zone will be lost to rising seas by 2100. From 2015–2017, ESSA worked with private sector partners and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to integrate climate-resilient, low-carbon solutions into the national environmental impact assessment process. ESSA also prepared a national, multi-hazard study on infrastructure vulnerability, modelling almost 100 different hazard scenarios. The result was a comprehensive “hazard atlas” and estimates of financial risk to guide land use planning and development decisions. ESSA shared its expertise in climate action planning, capacity building and development training, hazard assessment and modelling, GIS analysis, science communication and knowledge synthesis. essa.com
Hatch: Developing world-class tools to reduce life-threatening flood risks in remote Indigenous communities
Kashechewan First Nation is prone to severe flooding that can engulf the community within minutes. To mitigate risk, Hatch worked with the Kashechewan community to develop two forecasting tools. The first is an innovative framework to evaluate the likelihood of dam failure. The second engages local traditional knowledge to produce a reliable 10-day forecast of ice-jam flooding. Hatch’s work in Kashechewan earned the 2018 Award of Excellence from the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Canada.
Internationally, Hatch delivers an array of technical and strategic climate change-related risk and flood mitigation services. A recent project assessed flood risk and dam safety in Guinea, which identified protection measures for a downstream community of 148 people. hatch.com
Competitive adaptation and flood mitigation solutions from Canada
Design & consultancy
Arcadis
arcadis.com
Baird
baird.com
Northwest Hydraulic Consultants
nhcweb.com
R.J. Burnside International Ltd.
rjburnside.com
CBCL Ltd.
cbcl.ca
C-Core
c-core.ca
Cowater Sogema
cowatersogema.com
Dillon Consulting
dillon.ca
Ebbwater Consulting
ebbwater.ca
Engconsult Ltd.
eng-consult.com
ESSA Technologies
essa.com
Golder Associates
golder.com
Greenland Group of Companies
grnland.com
Hatch Ltd.
hatch.com
Hatfield Group
hatfieldgroup.com
Hemmera
hemmera.com
Norda Stelo
norda.com
Stantec
stantec.com
Southern Harbour Consulting
southernharbour.net
Source2Source
source2source.ca
Wood Group
woodgroup.com
Policy, governance & capacity building
Baastel
baastel.com
DE Design and Environment
design-environment.com
Fokabs Inc.
fokabs.com
Okapi Environmental Consulting
okapiconsulting.ca
WaterSMART
watersmartsolutions.ca
Technology & software
Canadian Floating Fence Corporation
canadianfloatingfence.biz
Oneka Technologies
onekawater.com
Risk Nexus
risknexus.com
RiskLogik
risklogik.com
Canadian associations and institutions
- Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering
- Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Canada
- Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network
- Ouranos
- International Institute for Sustainable Development
- Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Global Institute for Water Security
Reasons to do business with Canada
- On time, on budget and ethical project delivery
- Diverse international expertise
- Serving diverse international clients
- At forefront of current technologies and processes
- Highly skilled and diverse workforce
- Holistic and sustainable solutions from design to implementation
- World-class centres of excellence
Connect with us
The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service is a key resource for anyone interested in doing business with Canada. Our global network of trade offices and dedicated officers are available to connect you with Canadian companies and research organizations. For more information, we encourage you to contact a Canadian trade commissioner in your market.
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