PLEIN NORD : faire face aux coûts des changements climatiques pour les infrastructures du Nord

The report highlights a 'double threat' in Northern Canada: inadequate existing infrastructure and a climate warming three times faster than the global average. Permafrost thaw is causing significant structural damage to runways, roads, and residential buildings, which threatens essential services like healthcare and food security. The authors argue that while incremental adaptation (e.g., thermosiphons) can delay costs, 'transformational adaptation'—repensuring how services are delivered and where infrastructure is located—is necessary to address systemic deficits rooted in colonial history. The report recommends federal funding restructuring, improved regional climate risk data, and updated building codes to ensure long-term resilience.

• Northern Canada is warming significantly faster than the global average, with temperatures in the North increasing by 2.3 °C over the last 50 years compared to a global increase of 0.8 °C.
• Permafrost thaw is causing widespread structural damage to critical infrastructure, including the cracking and sinking of airport runways, the collapse of permanent roads, and the shifting of residential foundations.
• Winter roads, essential for delivering fuel and food to remote communities, are becoming increasingly non-viable; more than half of the winter roads in the Northwest Territories could be impassable by 2050.
• The report projects that without adaptation, the median annual cost of damage to airport runways from permafrost thaw will reach 7 million CAD by 2040.
• In the Yukon, the annual cost of road damage caused by permafrost thaw is projected to be between 73 and 85 million CAD over the next two decades, representing 75% to 90% of the territory's current total road expenditures.
• Building damage costs across the North could reach 30 to 38 million CAD annually by mid-century and 38 to 76 million CAD by the end of the century without adaptation.
• Incremental adaptation measures, such as thermosiphons for buildings and heat extraction from road embankments, can significantly reduce costs; for example, targeted thermosiphons could reduce building damage costs by 78% over the century in a moderate emissions scenario.
• Infrastructure deficits in the North are linked to a history of colonial expansion and racism, where development focused on resource extraction and national security rather than the needs of Indigenous peoples.
• Current federal funding programs for infrastructure are often inaccessible to Northern governments due to rigid cost-sharing agreements, short construction seasons, and complex application processes.
• The report emphasizes that 'transformational adaptation'—such as relocating infrastructure to stable ground or replacing diesel generators with green microgrids—is required because incremental repairs cannot keep pace with rapid warming.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (2022). PLEIN NORD : faire face aux coûts des changements climatiques pour les infrastructures du Nord. https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Plein-Nord.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. PLEIN NORD : faire face aux coûts des changements climatiques pour les infrastructures du Nord. 2022. https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Plein-Nord.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=PLEIN NORD : faire face aux coûts des changements climatiques pour les infrastructures du Nord |date=June 2022 |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Plein-Nord.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitute2022plein, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{PLEIN NORD : faire face aux coûts des changements climatiques pour les infrastructures du Nord}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Plein-Nord.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }