Advancing Natural Infrastructure in Canada

This report summarizes a 2018 forum on advancing natural infrastructure (NI) in Canada. It highlights the economic value of NI in mitigating climate risks, such as flooding, and identifies critical barriers to its implementation, including restrictive public sector accounting standards and funding gaps in federal programs like the ICIP and DMAF. The report recommends adopting natural asset accounting, utilizing green and resilience bonds, and creating dedicated federal NI funding to complement traditional grey infrastructure.

• Natural infrastructure (NI) is defined as the active management of natural systems to provide infrastructure outcomes and benefits, such as cleaner water, improved biodiversity, or flood management. It is distinguished from 'green infrastructure,' which includes man-made systems with positive environmental outcomes (e.g., solar panels), and 'built' or 'grey' infrastructure, which consists of human-constructed elements like dams and culverts.
• Rising costs of insurance and disaster recovery are driving the need for NI. Average property and casualty insurance costs in Canada rose from CAD 405 million annually (1983-2008) to CAD 1.8 billion (2009-2017). Water is the leading cause of personal property claims, and 19 per cent of Canada's population is at risk of flooding.

APA

Stanley, M., Puzyreva, M., & Roy, D. (2019). Advancing Natural Infrastructure in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/advancing-natural-infrastructure-canada.pdf

Chicago

Stanley, Madeline, Marina Puzyreva, and Dimple Roy. Advancing Natural Infrastructure in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/advancing-natural-infrastructure-canada.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stanley |first1=Madeline |last2=Puzyreva |first2=Marina |last3=Roy |first3=Dimple |title=Advancing Natural Infrastructure in Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/advancing-natural-infrastructure-canada.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stanley2019advancing, author = {Stanley, Madeline and Puzyreva, Marina and Roy, Dimple}, title = {{Advancing Natural Infrastructure in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/advancing-natural-infrastructure-canada.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }