Overview: Community flood rating
Community flood ratings found on Canada's Flood Risk Finder for participating provinces and territories are the Community Risk Index (CRI).
The CRI provides a rating of low, moderate, high and extreme for areas across Canada based on an estimation of community-level flood risk. The CRI is based on both the physical impacts of residential flooding and the social capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from flooding.
Methodology
The CRI was created using both licensed and open-source data to estimate flood risk ratings by community. Communities are identified using Canada's dissemination areas which are a geographic unit with an average population of 400 to 700 persons as based on the Census of Population.
Community flood ratings consider factors such as:
- how likely a damaging flood is in your community
- how extensive and costly residential flood damages might be
- how vulnerable your community is to potential flood impacts using the Canadian Index of Social Vulnerability
- how resilient your community is to potential flood impacts using the Canadian Index of Social Resilience
Data limitations
Overall, the CRI is intended to provide a broad understanding of residential flood risk across Canada. It should not be expected to provide more information beyond a general understanding of flood risk at the community level.
The CRI provides a high-level view, which may not reflect local flood information. Local or regional risk assessments with site-specific information, additional data, or locally-driven classifications may be more appropriate for some situations.
The appropriate and intended use for the CRI is general understanding and awareness. The CRI is not appropriate for decision-making such as around resource prioritization or land-use planning.
It's important to remember that no flood map, model, or rating can provide all the information needed to ensure flood safety. Those using the CRI should carefully consider that misunderstanding flood risk can result in the under or overestimation of actual risk levels. The CRI is subject to change at any time.
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