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Canada has a new searchable flood risk tool. You just can't search it yet

On Tuesday, Ottawa's national flood risk finder remained unusable one week after launch as no provinces or territories publicly opted into the program required for address-specific search results.
Ottawa committed $15.3 million in the 2023 budget to create the portal after a 2020 University of Waterloo survey found only six per cent of Canadians understood their local flood risks.
The Auditor General's report released Monday criticized the system for omitting climate change data, while flood risk expert Jason Thistlethwaite called it an "abandonment" of the government's responsibility.
Defending the program's structure, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said it was not the federal government's place "to force" participation as Quebec develops its own independent flood mapping tool.
About 10 per cent of households cannot obtain flood insurance, the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates, as floods cause close to $3 billion in annual property damage across Canada.

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The Toronto Star

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Lean Left

Canada has a new searchable flood risk tool. You just can’t search it yet.

The online tool, in the works for years, will allow users to conduct a simple address search and find out about the area's flood risk, rated on a four-point scale.

9 hours ago·Toronto, Canada

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