Canada has a rich history of developing tools to plan and better prepare for flood disasters, beginning with some of the first computerized flood damage models in the 1980’s. More recent Canadian studies often rely on importing models and tools developed in the U.S., which introduces transfer and adaptation challenges. Recognizing this, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) developed the open-source tool ‘CanFlood’ to support local flood risk assessments across the country. Reflecting the diversity of needs and data availability across Canada, CanFlood includes three modelling frameworks of increasing complexity, data requirements, and effort. Each of these frameworks was designed to be flexible and agnostic, allowing modellers to implement a single software tool and data structure while maintaining flood risk models that reflect the heterogeneity of Canadian assets and values. Designed for backwards compatibility, CanFlood models are transparent and easy to maintain allowing the model to grow and change with the community. Recognizing the significance of flood protection infrastructure on flood risk in many Canadian communities, CanFlood models can incorporate failure potential into risk calculations. To make use of Canada’s growing collection of nation-wide datasets, CanFlood includes modules to facilitate integration of such data into flood risk models. This presentation will provide an overview of CanFlood’s capabilities, demonstrating how the tool can be used to support local decision making.
