JBA’s team of flood experts have recently updated JBA’s Canada Flood Map, enabling you to make use of the latest data and methods in your flood risk assessments.
We have provided flood map insight for Canada for eleven years, empowering the re/insurance, financial, NGO, charitable and public sectors in their flood risk assessment and management.
We’re also proud to support the Canadian Red Cross in emergency management and disaster risk reduction through the provision of our Canada Flood Maps, in partnership with LightBox and the RBC Foundation.
First released in 2014 and now in the seventh generation as part of our continuous improvement plan, JBA’s Canada Flood Map was the first to offer national coverage for all major flood types, including modelling of all rivers across the country regardless of catchment size.
Canada Flood Map updates
Our 2024 update reflects advances in mapping data, modelling techniques and validation methods. We utilise the latest technological advancements, switching to a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), giving a better representation of flow paths, topography and river channels. The model includes 12 land classifications, including urban, forest and wetland, providing more accurate land use information to improve our understanding of how water behaves across surfaces.
The update covered more areas across Canada, focusing on key urban environments - Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Saskatoon. 24 new flood defences have been added and 14 refined, with focus areas covering the densely populated cities Vancouver and Calgary, demonstrating the mitigating effects of flood defences where large populations are exposed.
Our updated model closely matches satellite and ground benchmark data, enabling more realistic flood predications to better support decision-making on risk, development, emergency planning and climate resilience.
Comprehensive Flood Maps
Our flood data can be used by re/insurers, mortgage providers, banks, asset managers and other investment organisations to effectively assess the extent and severity of flooding, screen properties and other assets, and quantify the financial costs of flood risk. This enables improved decision-making across risk selection, underwriting, pricing, portfolio optimisation and funding and investment opportunities. The data can also be used by public bodies for land use planning, disaster preparedness and more.
We use bespoke methods for each flood type to account for their unique hydrological characteristics. For example, rainfall totals are generated for different hourly durations to represent storms of different durations, with shorter, intense storms likely to cause more flooding in steep sided valleys and smaller river catchments, as opposed to longer, slower moving storms having proportional impacts in flatter regions.
Our storm surge modelling uses extreme sea-level and bathymetry analysis to capture storm surge, including scenarios of tropical cyclones and extratropical cyclones coinciding with astronomical tides, and observed, historical events are used to calibrate and validate sea levels.
Our mapping specialists also employ bespoke methods to capture seasonal conditions and changing flood risk throughout the year, including the impacts of spring snowmelt and frozen ground, as well as the effects of over 125,000 lakes and reservoirs on flows.
The mapping is complemented by our Canada Flood Pricing Data and Canada Flood Model and is part of our wider global flood data capability.
For more information on any of our data or bespoke consultancy service, get in touch today using the form above.