Marc Miller, parliamentary secretary to the minister of crown-indigenous relations, announced funding for a project that involves renewing the City of Victoria’s aging underground infrastructure to make it more resilient to floods from coastal storms, spring thaws, and rising sea levels.

With its location along an active seismic zone, the infrastructure will also be reinforced to withstand earthquakes.

“By investing in the Climate and Seismic Resilient Underground Infrastructure project, we are helping ensure Victoria residents and businesses are protected from the heavy personal and economic costs of increasing natural disasters,” said Miller. “The project will also create good middle-class jobs and support a strong economy, paving the way for a safe prosperous future for our kids and grandkids.”

This project builds on work previously done by the city to identify the vulnerabilities of its existing infrastructure and put measures in place to address these risks. Once complete, it is expected to better protect more than 86,000 residents from the effects of coastal natural hazards. It will also reduce the number of families and businesses who go without essential services at these times by 95 per cent.

“Victoria faces a unique set of risks related to earthquakes and a changing climate,” said Lisa Helps, mayor of Victoria. “Our coastal city is blessed with heritage and historic buildings, but includes vulnerable infrastructure and utilities along an active seismic zone.  We need to invest our limited funds wisely to prepare and protect against damage from earthquakes, sea level rise, increased flooding and storms.  Federal programs like this provide essential funds so cities can take action to build a more resilient, thriving community.”

The Government of Canada is contributing more than $15.3 million to this project through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF). DMAF is a $2-billion, 10-year program to help communities build the infrastructure they need to better withstand natural hazards such as floods.

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