IBC Honors Disaster Prepared Communities

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) recently launched the new, national Foundation for the Future program that recognizes the
efforts of communities to manage exposure to natural disasters, extreme weather and weather-related events.

At a ceremony in Vancouver, IBC president and CEO Stan Griffin also announced the first five communities to be recognized under the program. “It’s particularly appropriate to celebrate their successes during Emergency Preparedness Week. Each of the honorees has shown leadership in disaster loss prevention and will serve as a model to their peers across the country.”

The five communities receiving IBC’s Foundation for the Future
recognition are: Nanaimo, BC; La Ronge, Saskatchewan; Leamington, Ontario; Saint-Constant, Quebec and Little Brook, Nova Scotia. Their efforts include building a new fire hall, improving firefighting tools, introducing better disaster protection skills to the community and improving flood prevention measures, among others.

“Natural disasters are hitting Canadians with increasing frequency and
severity,” said Griffin. “While we can be proud of the way we respond to natural disasters, there are steps that can be taken to ensure communities are better prepared to withstand the effects of these disasters.”

Ontario and Quebec are creating two of the most progressive disaster
management systems in North America. With the federal government, Manitoba has announced an additional $80 million investment in improving the Winnipeg Floodway, the largest federal-provincial infrastructure investment partnership in that province since the floodway’s construction in the early 1960s.