Is Canada Ready for Climate Change? Audit Reveals Major Gaps in National Adaptation Plan
As Canada faces increasing threats from climate change, the need to prepare and adapt to changes has never been more urgent. In 2023, the federal government released the National Adaptation Strategy, positioning it as a roadmap to help Canadians navigate the growing impacts of climate disruption. However, a recent report by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) found that the strategy’s development was flawed, lacking clear priorities, and lagging in implementation.
According to the OAG’s audit, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) - the department leading the initiative - failed to effectively coordinate with key federal partners including Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and Public Safety Canada, to develop a robust and actionable plan. Notably, the strategy does not prioritize the country’s most pressing climate risks, and lacks the economic analysis necessary to allocate resources effectively. To boast, the OAG also noted the absence of a strong framework to track progress and measure success. Targets for serious health-related climate threats, such as Lyme disease and wildfire smoke, were missing from the Government of Canada’s Adaptation Action Plan - one of the central elements of the strategy.
Although implementation is still in the early stages, the OAG found that two of the three major components needed to move the strategy forward have yet to be established - the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Bilateral Action Plans and the Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda. The Government of Canada’s Adaptation Action Plan was further criticized as incomplete and disorganized, with 73 actions that included a mix of new and existing federal programs, and no clear understanding of total federal funding commitments.
The OAG’s audit also emphasized the lack of urgency when it comes to monitoring, noting that the government plans to only report on the strategy’s effectiveness once before 2030. Without regular updates and course corrections, we risk falling further behind just as climate-related costs and disasters escalate.
While the release of the strategy marks a significant step, these findings underscore how critical it is to adopt faster, more coordinated, and better-funded efforts. The shortcomings of Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy, as outlined in the OAG’s report, illustrate the broader issues of our climate governance system, exposing the weaknesses and failures resulting from poor coordination, weak accountability and limited inclusion. For our country to actually “adapt” to climate change, we must be able to rely on governments and political leaders to develop capable, inclusive, transparent, and accountable action strategies.
Written by Sabrina Careri, for Ann Dale.
Image credit: Matt Palmer from Unsplash