Frequently Asked Questions

Examples included in the Map of Adaptation Actions are projects that involve adapting to climate change impacts and increasing resilience to climate change. This includes everything from assessments, plans, and strategies, to tangible, on-the-ground actions. Examples can originate from any source in Canada including, but not limited to, federal, provincial or territorial governments; municipalities; Indigenous communities or organizations; academia; industry; and businesses.

We prioritize examples that contain detailed use of projected (future) climate information in decision-making processes for inclusion on the Map, as historical observations alone are no longer suitable to assess future climate-related risks and, henceforth, appropriate adaptation actions.  Learn more about the role of climate information in decision-making.

While the Map does not provide a comprehensive list of all action across Canada, nor a set of endorsed or best practices, the examples can help communities and organizations facing similar situations inspire each other to act.

If you have an example that you think should be featured on the Map of Adaptation Actions, please get in touch with us! We have a team ready to work with you to determine how best to develop content for your example and upload it to the Map. Visit the Contact Us page for further instructions on how to submit your example.

You can apply filters to see only the examples that are relevant to you. The filters draw from a pre-defined set of labels. If you see an example that you think has been labelled incorrectly, or if you have questions about the label structure, please Contact Us. The list of examples can be refined based on the following filter categories:

Climate Issue: Combines the most common climate change impacts, hazards, variables, and stressors into one filter, allowing users to filter examples by climate issue, like flooding or extreme weather events.

Sector: Users can filter examples by the main sectors of the economy, society, and environment used in Canada. This filter allows users to select sub-filters.

Adaptation Stage: Users can filter examples across Canada that are in a specific stage of the adaptation cycle. See ‘What is the Adaptation Cycle?’ below for a full explanation.

Type of Action: Users can filter examples by type of adaptation action taken. All adaptation actions within case studies are grouped into high-level categories (e.g., Built Infrastructure, Economic Mechanisms, etc.).

Type of Setting: Users can filter examples from across Canada by setting, which groups similar setting-related attributes into categories (e.g., rural, coastal, etc.).

The Adaptation Cycle (or Adaptation Process) is way of describing the typical stages of decision-making and implementing climate change adaptation actions. The stages normally unfold as follows: understanding impacts, assessing risks and vulnerabilities, identifying actions, implementation, and outcomes and monitoring progress. The consideration of projected (future) climate information throughout the adaptation cycle is critical for understanding how the climate will change, especially within the “understanding impacts” and “assessing risks and vulnerabilities” stages. The examples featured on the map have been categorized based on the stage of adaptation that they are focused on. Note that there are different models for describing the stages of adaptation decision-making and action. In practice, these stages are often iterative, as adaptation is generally not a linear process.

To learn more about the adaptation cycle, please see The Adaptation Process (Box 2, p. 260), Canada in a Changing Climate: Sector Perspectives on Impacts and Adaptation.

The example summaries are broken down by the different stages of the adaptation cycle, as described above. The section headings match the adaptation cycle stages, with additional sections for ‘Next Steps’ and ‘Resources’.

Understanding and Assessing Impacts: This section describes the climate change impacts, risks, vulnerabilities (observed and/or projected (future)) and climate information that are considered in the example.

Identifying Actions: This section describes the process used for identifying climate change adaptation actions and the options considered in the example.

Implementation: This section describes the implementation of the adaptation actions (planned, underway, and/or completed) in the example.

Outcomes and Monitoring Progress: This section describes the outcomes or results of the actions implemented in the example.

Next Steps: This section describes any planned next steps in the example.

Resources: This section contains links to the full example and related resources.

For further information on climate change impacts and adaptation, as well as climate data, please visit:

• Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action
• ClimateData.ca
• Canadian Centre for Climate Services
• Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) Data Portal and Analysis Tools
• Ouranos Climate Portraits
• Climate Atlas of Canada
• ClimateWest
• CLIMAtlantic

See the ‘More Examples’ page for more information on where to find additional examples of climate change adaptation.