Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Kelly Greene, has responded to UBCM’s inquiry about what government is responsible when homes are deemed unsafe due to natural hazards. However, the response did not clarify the roles and responsibilities for local governments. This article provides UBCM’s analysis of the Province’s response, noting issues of concern and areas where provincial policy remains unclear.
UBCM wrote to the Minister asking for clarity after an EMCR statement in a news article suggested local governments were responsible for buying out homes that had been deemed unsafe, and therefore lost their value, due to natural hazards. (The statement was specifically about six homes within the Fraser Valley Regional District that have been deemed unsafe due to landslide risk.)
The implication that local governments are responsible for acquisition and buyouts in cases where the Compensation and Disaster Financial Assistance Regulations (CDFA) does not apply is significant and requires clarity from the Province. UBCM asked what Provincial policy backed EMCR’s statement that local governments would be responsible for buyouts and acquisition.
The Minister’s response confirmed the Province’s stance that no Provincial funding is available through CDFA in situations where the principal residence was not damaged or for properties where only the land is impacted.
As for policy, the Minister’s letter references one document: a 2022 flood resilience intentions paper. This paper was a high-level overview designed to solicit feedback on a proposed framework for the Province’s new flood strategy.
It is unclear why the Minister’s response highlights the 2022 intentions flood resilience paper instead of the 2024 Flood Strategy. The intentions paper references property acquisition and buyouts, but the Flood Strategy does not.
The intentions paper referenced ‘community-led managed retreat’ which the Minister defined as “the strategic relocation of people and structures out of harm’s way to reduce natural hazard risk and adapt to climate change.” Acquisition of private lands is one of several tools mentioned in the paper to support community-led managed retreat.
No other documents, policies, or strategies are identified that describe the roles and responsibilities of local governments for property acquisition and buyouts.
The Minister’s letter says the Province’s approach to community-led managed retreat has been to work directly with impacted communities on a case-by-case basis, citing examples in Grand Forks and Merritt. In these instances, the disaster mitigation response has included funding to support land acquisition as part of a broader flood mitigation plan.
UBCM’s analysis of the Minister’s response
The Province’s response to UBCM’s correspondence raises a number of questions and concerns.
- The Ministry has provided limited information about local government roles and responsibilities in property acquisition and buyouts under current Provincial policy.
- By highlighting a framework document that looks at flood resilience but not any other natural hazards, the letter does not address how such roles and responsibilities apply to homeowners affected by landslide risk, such as in the Fraser Valley Regional District.
- The letter does not acknowledge or address barriers to managed retreat for local governments identified in the intentions paper, specifically a “lack of cohesive financial and administrative resources.” The paper recognizes that success “requires close collaboration between all levels of government,” an emphasis that is absent from the Minister’s response.
- It is unclear why the Minister’s response highlights the 2022 flood resilience intentions paper instead of the 2024 Flood Strategy. The intentions paper references property acquisition and buyouts, but the Flood Strategy does not. The Flood Strategy does state that “the Province will explore supports for flood avoidance strategies,” but no specific information has been provided since the Strategy was published in 2024.
- The letter confirms that when a disaster does not damage a primary residence or damages land only, property owners are not eligible for compensation under current Compensation and Disaster Financial Assistance Regulations. It mentions the regulations are being updated, but does not say whether updates will address property acquisition and buyout. It also does not address how the Province intends to align itself with new federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements guidelines, which include a notable emphasis on proactive disaster mitigation in high-risk areas.
- States that the Province takes a “case-by-case” approach to working with affected communities. This approach creates uncertainty for homeowners and local governments, which may have unintended impacts on local and regional efforts to assess and address natural hazards.
UBCM maintains that there is a provincial role to provide assistance to homeowners in such instances, and that the criteria for doing so should be transparent and objective.
While local governments are required to complete risk assessments under the Province’s new Emergency and Disaster Management Act, the absence of long-term, stable funding programs to address identified risks continues to limit the capacity of local governments to mitigate these risks. Maintaining the status quo will leave affected property owners – such as the six Fraser Valley Regional District residents who have lost their homes due to unsafe levels of landslide risk – without a clear path for assistance.