Canada is warming more and faster compared to the global average, especially in the Winter months (IPCC, 2021). Changes in average temperature, changes in precipitation cycles and increased likelihood of extreme weather events are all realities cities and towns should consider in planning. The Town of Canmore had a risk assessment done in 2016 where the following risks that required priority action were identified: forest fires, Bow river flooding, creek flooding, stormwater system overwhelmed, extreme wind, water shortage supplies, heavy snowfall and freeze-thaw cycles (Town of Canmore, 2016). Along with the priority risk, the following three priority opportunities were identified: extended summer recreation and construction seasons along with an increase in winter tourism (Town of Canmore, 2016).
The Resilience Assessment for the Town of Canmore was curated by All One Sky Foundation, utilizing the Climate Resilience Express approach which provides a framework for facilitating climate change adaptation in smaller jurisdictions in Alberta. The climate change adaptation and resilience plan for the Town of Canmore utilized the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 31000, Risk Management- Principles and Guidelines framework. This planning tool delineates a four step process involving defining the context, assessing risks and opportunities, formulating actions and implementation (Town of Canmore, 2016, p.5).
During the process it was discovered that the Town of Canmore already had several adaptive actions in place reducing vulnerability to flooding. Through stakeholder consultation and engagement a number of impacts were generated. Several previously experienced weather events and incidents were also described, these included forest fires, mountain pine beetle infestations, glacier recession, changing of freeze-thaw cycles and longer growing seasons (Town of Canmore, 2016). After identifying plausible impacts, participants rated the perceived severity of impacts and considered what mechanisms or infrastructure was in place to address these concerns. For example, forest fires were initially identified as a moderate-high risk, but were moved to high consequence after the various extremely detrimental consequences were discussed (Town of Canmore, 2016). Meanwhile, heat stress on vulnerable populations was lowered from moderate consequence to low-moderate consequence as Canmore is well adept to handle heat waves and associated health concerns (Town of Canmore, 2016). In order to further consider Canmore’s vulnerability to the priority actions, several broad categories were identified to determine the level of risk. The categories included: research and monitoring, early warning systems, hazard information provisioning, awareness, operations, bylaws and plans, technologies, infrastructure and economic instruments (Town of Canmore, 2016). Once the list of risks are scoped out, they are categorized based on cost of action, timeframe, and which department or group would champion the action (Town of Canmore, 2016). This creates a type of shopping list for the town Council to look over and make an informed decision on which items to pursue based on the overall risk and capacity to address it.
Risk assessments should ideally be done every 5- 7 years (CCME, 2021). As the Town of Canmore completed this one in 2016, with the stakeholder consultation being done in 2015 they are due to revisit this topic and complete another risk assessment.
References
CCME. (2021). Guidance on Good Practices in Climate Change Risk Assessment.
IPCC. (2021): Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.
Town of Canmore. (2016). Town of Canmore Climate Change Adaptation Background Report and Resilience Plan. All One Sky Foundation. Zukiwsky, J., Boyd, R., Reasoner, M. & Stark,C.https://canmore.ca/residents/stewardship-of-the-environment/climate-change-adaptation-plan/climate-change-and-adaptation-plan