The Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program (CCHAP) funds Inuit led projects in the north that help communities adapt to the health impacts of climate change.

The Climate Change Preparedness in the North Program (CCPN) funds northerner-led projects that help communities adapt to climate change impacts on their community.

The program provides funding to support Indigenous communities in the development and implementation of community-based climate monitoring projects.

Projects usually fall within one of these categories:

• Food Security
• Resilience Building
• Knowledge Transfer
• Access to the Land
• Water Quality
• Adaptation Planning

Adaptation Planning (non-structural adaptation measures):

• • Vulnerability and risk assessment of climate change impact.
  • Development of hazard maps.
  • Development of adaptation plans ​and options such as sea-ice monitoring equipment.

Implementation of ​Adaptation Measures (structural​ adaptation measures)

• • • For example, ​implementing ​the redesign or retrofit infrastructure ​ such as drainage or coastal defences.

Monitoring climate or the effects of climate change on weather, land and water, and wildlife and vegetation through Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit observations and/or scientific instruments.

Examples of things to track/monitor:

• Weather: Air temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, extreme weather events.
• Land and water: Permafrost conditions, coastal erosion, landslides, drought, water quality and quantity, water salinity, water temperature, flooding, glacier retreat, freshwater ice, sea ice, sea level, snowpack, storm surges.
• Wildlife and vegetation: Population, distribution, health, seasonal timing, habitat quality, species at risk, invasive species, traditional medicines.

Have a strong connection to climate change and addresses the impacts of climate change on health

Be adaptation action oriented, or provide information that will inform future adaptation actions

Have strong links to climate change that contribute to the communities’ efforts to adapt to the environmental impacts caused by climate change.

Community-led

Related to monitoring climate or effects of climate change

Include Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and/or science methodologies

Build capacity amongst community members in climate monitoring or related areas

Provide knowledge transfer opportunities between generations and support Inuit culture continuity

Short term research and monitoring in Kugluktuk to identify climate change impacts on the Coppermine River

Funding to support the design and development of food security strategies in the Inuvialuit Region and within the Selkirk First Nation (2 separate projects)

Funding to pair youth and elders in the Tłı̨chǫ communities to teach harvesting skills and stock community freezers

Sea ice monitoring projects in several Nunavut communities

Funding to support the assessment, and climate related planning of, municipal drainage in Arviat and Cape Dorset.

Funding to support geotechnical investigations of soil and permafrost conditions to inform the design of building foundations (Nunavut Housing Corporation).

Funding to support sea-ice monitoring for local adaptive change in Grise Fiord, SmartICE Inc.

Funding to support on-the-land knowledge exchange of adaptation in traditional harvesting with the Arviat Young Hunters Program and Kitikmeot Heritage Society.

Hiring and training of local community members in Pond Inlet as Environmental Monitors to record data on biometrics, behaviour observations, and GPS information of marine mammals to track their health, distribution, and population. Read more about the project here.

The Young Hunters Program in Arviat, mentors youth, males age 8-18, to become masters in sustainable harvesting and environmental monitoring through hands-on, on-the-land experiential learning with Elders and program graduates. The youth monitor the health, harvest rate, and consumption rate of seal and caribou. Read more about the project here.

In the Kitikmeot Region, the Hunter and Trapper Organizations are working in partnership with the Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board to design and create a database to include both Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit observations and stories, as well as western science measurements. The idea to record and manage this information began with a concern about caribou herd health among all HTOs in the Kitikmeot Region.

CCHAP Webpage

Climate Telling

CCPN Webpage

Indigenous Climate Hub