Physical exposure to natural hazards in Canada

Natural hazard threats occur in areas of the built environment where buildings, people, and related financial assets are exposed to the physical effects of earth system processes that have a potential to cause damage, injuries, losses, and related socioeconomic disruption. As cities, towns, and villages continue to expand and densify in response to the pressures of urban growth and development, so too do the levels of exposure and susceptibility to natural hazard threat. While our understanding of natural hazard processes has increased significantly over the last few decades, the ability to assess both overall levels of physical exposure and the expected impacts and consequences of future disaster events (i.e., risk) is often limited by access to an equally comprehensive understanding of the built environment and detailed descriptions of who and what are situated in harm's way. This study addresses the current gaps in our understanding of physical exposure to natural hazards by presenting results of a national model that documents characteristics of the built environment for all settled areas in Canada. The model (CanEM) includes a characterization of broad land use patterns that describe the form and function of cities, towns, and villages of varying size and complexity, and the corresponding portfolios of people, buildings and related financial assets that make up the internal structure and composition of these communities at the census dissemination area level. Outputs of the CanEM model are used to carry out a preliminary assessment of exposure and susceptibility to significant natural hazard threats in Canada including earthquake ground shaking; inundation of low-lying areas by floods and tsunami; severe winds associated with hurricanes and tornados; wildland urban interface fire (wildfire); and landslides of various types. Results of our assessment provide important new insights on patterns of development and defining characteristics of the built environment for major metropolitan centres, rural and remote communities in different physiographic regions of Canada, and the effects of ongoing urbanization on escalating disaster risk trends at the community level. Profiles of physical exposure and hazard susceptibility described in this report are accompanied by open-source datasets that can be used to inform local and/or regional assessments of disaster risk, community planning and emergency management activities for all areas in Canada. Study outputs contribute to broader policy goals and objectives of the International Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2015-2030; Un General Assembly, 2015) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR 2015-2030; United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction [UNDRR], 2015), of which Canada is a contributing member. These include a more complete understanding of natural hazard risk at all levels of government, and the translation of this knowledge into actionable strategies that are effective in reducing intrinsic vulnerabilities of the built environment and in strengthening the capacity of communities to withstand and recover from future disaster events.