Adaptation Governance in Canada

This executive summary discusses the need for the Canadian federal government to revitalize its cross-departmental governance structures to effectively implement the country's first National Adaptation Strategy (NAS). It outlines the challenges of adaptation governance and suggests that success depends on senior-level leadership, awareness of adaptation's unique characteristics, and sufficient funding.

• The introduction of Canada's first National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) creates a need to review and improve how the federal government coordinates adaptation policies and programs across various departments to ensure collaborative planning and alignment.
• A renewed federal adaptation governance structure must address specific institutional needs, including the clarification of roles and responsibilities, the creation of knowledge-sharing and coordination structures, and the formalization of accountability mechanisms for progress assessment.
• Governance of climate adaptation is complicated by several factors: a fragmented landscape of priorities and actors, uncertainty regarding the changes being adapted to, and a lack of awareness among senior decision-makers about the nature of adaptation.
• The success of a revitalized horizontal adaptation governance system depends on three primary elements, listed in increasing order of importance: adequate funding for adaptation units and secretariats, senior-level awareness of how adaptation differs from emergency management and mitigation, and a commitment from senior leadership to enhance long-term resilience.

APA

Hammill,, J.-E. P. O. (2023). Adaptation Governance in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptation-governance-canada

Chicago

Hammill,, Jo-Ellen Parry,Sarah O'Keefe,Anne. Adaptation Governance in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptation-governance-canada.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hammill, |first1=Jo-Ellen Parry,Sarah O'Keefe,Anne |title=Adaptation Governance in Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=17 May 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptation-governance-canada |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hammill2023adaptation, author = {Hammill,, Jo-Ellen Parry,Sarah O'Keefe,Anne}, title = {{Adaptation Governance in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/adaptation-governance-canada}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }