A car crosses a flooded street in Abbotsford, B.C., earlier this month.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
In the months after British Columbia’s catastrophic 2021 floods, the City of Abbotsford got to work on a plan to ensure it would never happen again.
The city brought in a top engineering consulting firm and drafted long-term flood mitigation options that ranged from basic upgrades to a sweeping multibillion-dollar overhaul of flood protections in B.C.’s agricultural heartland. It engaged with farmers, First Nations and the general public, who highlighted priorities around preserving farmland, protecting buildings and food security.
They designed a plan that included new dikes to divert the U.S. flood waters that rushed north into the low-lying Sumas Prairie, killing hundreds of thousands of farm animals and severely damaging critical infrastructure. New flood storage basins would hold excess water, allowing for a gradual and controlled release. A high-capacity pump station would further protect homes, businesses and critical infrastructure.
When the federal government in January, 2023, invited applications to its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, a program created specifically to increase the resilience of communities hard-hit by natural disasters, city staff spent six months preparing a submission, prioritizing the plan’s most urgent components. The application totalled nearly 500 pages and asked for $1.6-billion.
Flooded farms are seen along the Trans-Canada Highway in Abbotsford, B.C., in November, 2021.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
The rejection was delivered in a May, 2024, phone call that Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens described as blunt and lacking in detail.
“We have never really fully comprehended why,” Mr. Siemens said in an interview with The Globe and Mail this month as his city grappled with yet another disastrous flood. “It was a very vague answer, a very political answer. They have never really given us a complete understanding, other than to say it was a big ask.”
The latest flooding event, which bore many similarities to 2021 but was, mercifully, less severe, has brought renewed attention to the pleas by Abbotsford and neighbouring municipalities for a long-term flood mitigation strategy. But B.C. officials say they can’t fund such a massive project alone and accuse the federal government of being absent.
Earlier: Farmers in B.C. flood zone frustrated that politicians failed to learn from last disaster
Mr. Siemens, who was elected in October, 2022, after serving on council, has carried on his predecessor Henry Braun’s appeals for assistance, his exasperation evident in recent weeks.
“We have done everything, including almost standing on our heads, to be noticed and to be heard and, again, to be disappointed by our federal government,” he said at a Dec. 12 news conference to provide an update on the flood.
As he spoke, overflow from the Nooksack River in Washington State was again rushing north across the border, and more than 2,000 properties on B.C.’s south coast were under evacuation orders or alerts.
A road is blocked on Monday after rainstorms lashed Abbotsford.Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
“This is an issue that needs to be addressed. It’s foundational to our economy, to our food security. To put my city residents at risk once again, needlessly, because of inaction, is frustrating.”
Numerous critical infrastructure corridors run through the drained lake now called Sumas Prairie, including the Trans-Canada Highway, which in 2024 transported more than $67-billion in goods from other provinces for export as part of Canada’s Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor. There are also oil and gas pipelines, a railway and electrical transmission lines.
According to the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, agriculture in the city generates around $3.8-billion in economic activity annually. More than 80 per cent of B.C.’s egg farms are in the Fraser Valley.
The 2021 flood is B.C.’s costliest natural disaster, with insured damages of $670-million, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Including non-insured damages, income losses and public expenditures, the event is estimated to have cost B.C. $8.6-billion to $14-billion, according to a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The costs of this year’s flood are not yet known.
Floodwaters surround a house and vehicles in Abbotsford on Dec. 12.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Since 2021, B.C. has committed about $215-million to recovery, preparedness and flood mitigation funding for Abbotsford and the Sumas Prairie, including $76-million for upgrades to the Barrowtown Pump Station that are expected to be completed in late 2027. The vital flood defence infrastructure, which pumps water from low-lying prairie lands via the Sumas Canal and into the Fraser River, was nearly overwhelmed during the torrential downpour and dike breaches of 2021.
But provincial and municipal leaders in B.C. say they need much more than upgrades and one-off projects: They need a comprehensive, long-term flood mitigation plan, urgently.
“We can’t do this work alone,” Kelly Greene, B.C.’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, said in a statement to The Globe. “The federal government is a critical funding partner, and we need them actively at the table to help protect people and communities.”
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC), previously Infrastructure Canada, administers the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund to which Abbotsford applied. The $3.74-billion national, competitive and merit-based contribution program was launched in 2018 to support just the type of large-scale, long-term resiliency projects the city is seeking to pursue.
Merritt and Princeton, two communities also hard hit by the 2021 flooding, similarly applied and were turned down. Merritt, located in the Nicola Valley of B.C.’s south-central Interior, requested $46.5-million, primarily to rebuild its dike system and buy out homes in flood-ravaged areas.
A property affected by the flooding of the Nicola River is seen along Highway 8 on the Shackan Indian Band, northwest of Merritt, B.C., in March, 2022.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Mayor Mike Goetz told The Globe that HICC said the application did not demonstrate that the project would achieve the expected resiliency objectives. He said he would like the department to review the application again, and “follow through on the promises that were made during the photo ops” of 2021 by then-prime-minister Justin Trudeau and then-minister-of-emergency preparedness Bill Blair.
Princeton, in the Similkameen region of Southern B.C., requested $54-million to mitigate flooding at the Tulameen River by upgrading its dikes and returning some land to a more natural riverbank. A rejection letter from HICC said the town’s application lacked the data needed for the department to assess the project, and that it did not sufficiently describe why the proposal was the best option to address flood risks.
Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne said he would like to invite Prime Minister Mark Carney to the community to meet with mayors and discuss next steps.
“We need a dedicated fund, not one where we compete with non-impacted communities across the country for money we will never see,” he said.
Steve Cloutier, a spokesperson for HICC, said the program has committed more than $3-billion for 124 infrastructure projects across Canada to date, including more than $545-million for 22 projects in B.C.
This has included $7-million to address erosion concerns on the Fraser River bank in Abbotsford.
The highway that disappeared: How the B.C. flood changed lives forever along Highway 8
Mr. Cloutier said the department does not publicly share details on individual applications, but demand has surpassed the program’s available funds since its launch and the selection process is extensive.
Eleanor Olszewski, the federal Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience, requested a meeting with Abbotsford’s mayor hours after his Dec. 12 news conference, during which he also said the federal government had not been in contact since the flooding started.
Mr. Siemens said the minister advised him of potential federal funding opportunities, including a “modernized” Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program that reimburses provinces and territories for response and recovery costs from large-scale natural disasters. That program, which has so far paid B.C. about $1-billion to recover from the 2021 flood, was updated in April to include a new disaster mitigation funding stream.
Flood waters surround train tracks in Abbotsford last week.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
However, unlike the DMAF program, which provides funding for large-scale infrastructure projects to reduce the impact of natural disasters before they occur, provinces and territories can only receive reimbursement under the DFAA program after an eligible event has occurred. As well, federal funding is only available after eligible costs exceed a per-capita threshold, similar to a deductible – about $22-million for B.C.
The amount available for mitigation initiatives is limited to a maximum of 25 per cent of total eligible expenses covered under funding streams for response, uninsurable damage to homes and small businesses and the restoration of public assets. Provincial and territorial governments are the sole eligible recipients of DFAA funding, meaning it does not provide payments directly to municipalities.
Ms. Greene, the B.C. Emergency Management Minister, said while she is encouraged to see changes to the program, “unfortunately, the modernized DFAA changes do not apply to communities recovering from the 2021 flooding events.”
Meanwhile, HICC spokesperson Mr. Cloutier said a new $51-billion Build Communities Strong Fund, announced in the 2025 federal budget, will support climate adaptation initiatives and that details would be released in due course.
Abbotsford’s mayor called the idea of preparing another funding application offensive.
“They know what we need to do,” Mr. Siemens said. “They’ve seen the damage. Enough is enough on playing these games. This is fundamental to the national economy, our provincial food security. It’s absolutely mind boggling that they don’t understand that.”