Beyond Sandbagging: Building Community Resilience to the Impacts of Climate Change—Executive Summary

Climate change is real. Its impacts are being felt here and now, and will increasingly challenge public safety and national security in Canada. But greater emphasis on adaptation and building resilience at the local level and within communities can help to mitigate the impacts of a changing climate.

This report looks at climate change in Canada and attempts to clarify what it means for public safety and national security. It also looks at adaptation and resilience, and explores the role of both public and private sector organizations in supporting and enabling community-based resilience initiatives. This “whole-of-society” approach with resilience rooted at the local level is necessary to mitigate the effects and manage the implications of climate change.