British Columbia offers disaster financial assistance to flood victims in Lower Mainland; applications due by Feb. 23, 2025 for damages from Oct. 18-20 atmospheric river event

November 25, 2024 (press release) – INFORMATION BULLETIN For Immediate Release
2024EMCR0047-001600
Nov. 25, 2024 Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Financial assistance available for flood-affected people in the Lower Mainland

VICTORIA – Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) is available for eligible people, businesses and communities in the Lower Mainland that were affected by flooding due to the atmospheric river from Oct. 18-20, 2024.

This assistance is for flood-affected people and communities within the geographic boundaries of the following areas:

• City of Port Coquitlam
• City of Coquitlam
• City of North Vancouver
• District of West Vancouver
• District of North Vancouver
• Squamish First Nation

DFA may compensate for sudden, unexpected and uninsurable losses that are essential. This may include building repairs to a damaged principal residence, replacement of essential personal effects, cleanup and debris removal.

People can access specifics about the event and can submit their DFA application online at: https://www.gov.bc.ca/disasterfinancialassistance

DFA is available to homeowners, renters, business owners, farmers, corporation-owned properties and charitable organizations to cover uninsurable disaster-related losses. DFA is unable to compensate for losses for which insurance was reasonably and readily available.

Applications for this DFA event must be submitted to the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness within 90 calendar days of the event declaration. The deadline to submit applications for this DFA is Feb. 23, 2025.

Indigenous communities and local governments that have infrastructure damage as a result of the flooding should submit a local government DFA application as soon as possible.

The Province has enhanced and expanded the DFA program in recent years to better support people and communities. These changes include:

• increase in maximum DFA support available per claim from $300,000 to $400,000;
• expanded eligibility for small businesses based on minimum income;
• expanded annual revenue threshold for small businesses from $1 million to $2 million so more businesses can qualify for DFA;
• expanded eligibility for the farming sector to include homes owned by corporations if the home is used as a primary residence;
• increased provincial contributions to local infrastructure recovery;
• the Province may provide a portion of the project’s estimated costs up front to help communities rebuild critical infrastructure projects faster; and
• a new online portal is available to make it easier for people and communities to apply for financial support for uninsurable losses after a disaster.

Learn More:

Information, eligibility criteria, categories and applications can be found by calling toll-free 1 888 257-4777 or visiting: https://www.gov.bc.ca/disasterfinancialassistance

Local government application forms and additional information are available here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-management/local-emergency-programs/financial/communities-dfa

To learn about improvements the Province made to DFA after the November 2021 flooding event, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/26713

A backgrounder follows.

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