A Methodology for Climate Risk Assessments for First Nations Communities

The Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation (OFNTSC), in collaboration with Stantec Consulting and Engineers Canada, developed a First Nations (FN) infrastructure resilience toolkit that guides FN communities in the assessment of risks related to climate change in a life-cycle/asset management context. The toolkit was developed through pilots in three First Nation communities in Ontario and is now used for capacity development across the province; it was funded by the governments of Canada and Ontario. This article presents the development process, principles, and key elements of the toolkit (climate risk assessment and asset management modules), and provides the results of the application of its climate risk assessment module to water and wastewater systems in two Ontario FN communities: the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and Moose Factory (Northern Ontario).