Province not doing enough to prevent urban flooding, Ontario auditor general finds

Ontario is not doing enough to prevent urban flooding, a problem that is expected to worsen in the coming years, the province's auditor general says.

The findings are part of the 2022 Auditor General's Report, which points to the province's failure to clarify its commitments to manage urban flooding and a failure to adequately support municipalities and homeowners to effectively tackle the problem.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says it isn't just a problem for the three per cent of Ontarians who live near rivers. 

"All Ontarians who live in cities, towns and smaller communities may be at risk of flooding," said Lysyk, who added that not addressing the problem will be costly.

Lysyk's report recommends updating the building code, improving urban flood risk mapping and better protecting green and natural spaces such as wetlands.

Lysyk says there are gaps in provincial flood mapping to identify risk areas and allow communities to prepare. 

Understanding floodplains is important in large communities like Toronto and the risks of not doing so would surprise many, says Cynthia Wilkey, co-chair of the West Don Lands Committee.

Until about a decade ago, much of Toronto's downtown was at risk of flooding from the Don River, she says. But groups  advocated for the creation of a flood protection landform on the river's west bank.

"It was a struggle to get that through people's heads that you have to do this," Wilkey told CBC Toronto. 

"It cost money to do it, but it has now protected billions of dollars in real estate and not to mention human lives," she added.

"If you don't plan in advance, there can be terrible, tragic consequences."

Doing so can also lead to opportunities for development, she says. Measures being taken on the east side of the Don River to divert the river and engage in grade raising have actually unlocked land for development in the Portlands that previously would have been in a floodplain, Wilkey says.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said in a written statement Friday that while a significant share of the responsibility for flood management falls to municipalities, the provincial government is prepared to help.

The ministry says it's contributing $25 million toward stormwater infrastructure, and conducting a provincewide climate change impact assessment.