As the Arctic coastline erodes, a new report says Canada needs to do more to protect it

A recent report says Canada is not doing enough to protect its shorelines, and despite sharing a quickly eroding Arctic coastline, the three territories do not have dedicated shoreline management plans.

The report from the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation looked at Canada’s marine coastline and Great Lakes shoreline. It found that communities, ecosystems and infrastructure along shorelines are facing a growing risk of erosion, sea-level rise, storm surges, permafrost thaw and extreme weather.

“Millions of people live near the coast, near the Great Lakes, and many more rely on them for work, for travel, for recreation,” said Anabela Bonada, one of the report’s authors. “Our economy heavily relies on our coasts and shorelines, but they’re increasingly exposed to climate-driven hazards.”

“Along the coast we’re having sea level rise already occur. Globally, it’s happening at about five millimetres per year. And we’re seeing stronger storms that cause flooding and erosion.”

Bonada says the federal government set a target for 80 per cent of coastal communities to implement adaptation strategies by 2027. 

However, Canada lacks a national framework for managing shorelines, said Bonada. And although several provinces have their own management plans, others, and all three territories, do not have comprehensive strategies.

The solution, says the report, is to implement regional shoreline management plans across the country. This would allow regions to tackle the issue without being limited by municipal, provincial or territorial boundaries, Bonada said. 

In the Arctic, permafrost thaw is increasing the rate of erosion.

Hugues Lantuit is a permafrost researcher with the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany who has been studying the Yukon’s north coast for over 20 years. He says permafrost coasts in northern Canada erode just as fast or faster than coastlines in the south, despite being protected by sea ice for much of the year.

“In the northern Yukon you have rates of erosion that are generally between 0.5 and one metres per year,” he said. “That sounds like not a lot, but it is actually very substantial.”

If a regional plan were to be established, Lantuit says the people who live there would need to be at the helm.

In the northern Yukon and N.W.T., that’s the Inuvialuit, who have already been working to both manage the land and address coastal erosion, said Lantuit. 

“A lot of essential pieces, if you want, are there. What we need is maybe a dedicated body … to form a group of interested parties with the innovative leadership to address these kinds of issues and move towards a formal plan.”

Lantuit says the small Arctic population makes the region's coastline more difficult to protect than other areas in Canada.