Strengthening Adaptive Capacity in Four Canadian Provinces: ADAPTool analysis of selected sectoral policies

The report evaluates the capacity of provincial policies in Canada to support climate adaptation and their own inherent flexibility to change. Using the ADAPTool, it analyzes policies across agriculture, forestry, and water sectors, finding that while many policies support information sharing and decentralized decision-making, they often lack direct support for critical adaptation actions and formal review mechanisms.

• Across the 27 analyzed policies, only six scored in the 'green zone' (above six) for both planned adaptability (response to anticipated stressors) and unplanned adaptability (response to unanticipated stressors).
• The analyzed policies generally failed to align with identified climate adaptation needs; more than half of the total potential adaptation actions were considered not applicable to the policies studied.
• Among the adaptation actions that were relevant to the policies, only approximately 20 per cent were directly supported by a policy that explicitly enabled the action.
• Policies that demonstrated the highest adaptability typically featured decentralized decision-making, stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and built-in review processes.
• A significant gap exists in policy support for building adaptive capacity related to infrastructure and technology, whereas support for information, skills development, and institutional networking was more common.
• Many policies are vulnerable to climate change because they rely on historical data and trends rather than integrated climate change impact assessments, particularly in the water and forestry sectors.
• The ADAPTool is most effective when applied to a suite of existing, implemented policies within a single sector under an explicit climate adaptation policy mandate, such as British Columbia's Climate Change Strategy.
• The tool proved less effective when applied to broad policy goals that were not yet fully implemented (as in Saskatchewan) or to policies in the final drafting stages where analysts viewed climate adaptation as an 'add-on' (as in Manitoba's wetlands policy).

APA

Bizikova, L., Tyler, S., Roy, D., & Swanson, D. (2014). Strengthening Adaptive Capacity in Four Canadian Provinces: ADAPTool analysis of selected sectoral policies. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_synthesis.pdf

Chicago

Bizikova, Livia, Stephen Tyler, Dimple Roy, and Darren Swanson. Strengthening Adaptive Capacity in Four Canadian Provinces: ADAPTool analysis of selected sectoral policies. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_synthesis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bizikova |first1=Livia |last2=Tyler |first2=Stephen |last3=Roy |first3=Dimple |last4=Swanson |first4=Darren |title=Strengthening Adaptive Capacity in Four Canadian Provinces: ADAPTool analysis of selected sectoral policies |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_synthesis.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bizikova2014strengthening, author = {Bizikova, Livia and Tyler, Stephen and Roy, Dimple and Swanson, Darren}, title = {{Strengthening Adaptive Capacity in Four Canadian Provinces: ADAPTool analysis of selected sectoral policies}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_synthesis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }