As the severity of wildfires increases, shorelines flood, and extreme weather becomes more common, the effects of climate change unfold differently in Canadian cities and communities from coast to coast. That's why the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has provided grants to 12 organizations that will help participating communities of all sizes — from all regions of Canada — adapt to effects of climate change.

The funding, known as climate adaptation partner grants, will enable the partner organizations to provide training and guidance on how to adapt to climate change to more than 70 municipalities across Canada. The grants, totaling $2.4 million, are delivered through FCM's Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program and funded by the Government of Canada.

The Green Infrastructure Foundation (GIF), in partnership with the Ontario parks Association (OPA) is proud to be one of those recipients.

Using this grant, OPA and GIF will create a program to help municipal governments build capacity to value, create policy for and implement green infrastructure. Through training courses, workshops and Charrettes, municipal staff and interdisciplinary stakeholders will learn how to apply green infrastructure in their communities, and apply cost-benefit analyses to understand the value of green infrastructure.

The information gathered at each of the Charrettes will be analysed and compiled into reports that will be shared, and the training courses will be offered online so that municipal staff across Canada can learn how to implement, value, and create supportive policy for green infrastructure.

Building capacity to use green infrastructure will help municipal stakeholders deal with aging water infrastructure, vulnerability to surface flooding, increasing severity of weather events, and increasing urban heat islands; providing them with an important toolkit for adapting to climate change impacts.