Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) Terms and Conditions
Program Objective and Allocation
In the event of a large-scale natural disaster, the Government of Canada (GoC) provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial governments (PTs) through the DFAA. When response and recovery costs place a significant burden and would exceed what individual PTs might reasonably be expected to bear on their own, the DFAA support the PTs in:
- Providing or reinstating the necessities of life to individuals, including help to repair and restore damaged homes;
- Re-establishing or maintaining the viability of small businesses and working farms;
- Repairing, rebuilding and restoring public works and the essential community services; and
- Funding limited mitigation measures to reduce the future vulnerability of repaired or replaced infrastructure.
Since program inception in 1970, there have been 298 requests for assistance under the DFAA, for which contributions to date total more than $5.57 billion. There are currently 60 active events with a total estimated outstanding federal liability of $2.59 billion.
| Fiscal Year | 2017-18 |
2018-19 |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
2021-22 |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annual Budget |
$679,863,177 |
$609,000,000 |
$353,350,306 |
$205,000,000 |
$445,750,181 |
$100,000,000 |
$100,000,000 |
$100,000,000 |
Anticipated |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$265,953,389 |
$221,168,337 |
$1,675,165,708 |
$306,162,997 |
Commitments |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$48,063,667 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
Actuals |
$581,512,971 |
$263,248,819 |
$34,957,036 |
$156,939,333 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
Balance |
$98,350,206* |
$345,751,181* |
$0 |
$0 |
$179,796,792 |
($121,168,337) |
($1,575,165,708) |
($206,162,997) |
PAYEs |
$118,659,164 |
$20,582,604 |
$294,393,170 |
|
|
|
|
|
Budget 2021 Ask |
|
|
|
n/a |
81,909,904 |
$0 |
$1,574,947,562 |
$188,150,073 |
*Balance of FY 2017-18 reprofiled to FY 2019-20; balance of FY 2018-19 reprofiled to 2021-22
| Created On | October 27, 1970 |
|
|---|---|---|
Total Envelope |
$100 million annually |
|
Source of Funds |
Vote 5 |
|
Budget 2019: $260 million |
$155 M in FY 2019-20 |
|
$105 M in FY 2020-21 |
||
T&Cs Expiration |
March 31, 2022 |
|
Total Events |
298 requests for financial assistance |
|
291 DFAA events |
||
60 active events |
||
Contributions to Date |
$5,569,205,548 |
|
Current Federal Share |
$5,458,808,285 |
|
Outstanding Liability |
$2,593,507,992 |
|
Cost-sharing Formula
The percentage of eligible costs reimbursed under the DFAA is determined by a cost-sharing formula and is up to 90% of eligible expenditures. Effective January 1, 2021, the initial threshold for all new events is defined as $3.27 per capita of the provincial population (as estimated by Statistics Canada to exist on July 1st in the calendar year of the disaster). Once the threshold is exceeded, the federal share of eligible expenses is determined by the formula.
Example: For a disaster in a PT with a population of 1 million where the total eligible expenses for responding to and recovering from a disaster are $20 million, the table below shows how eligible expenditures would be cost-shared under the DFAA.
| Eligible Expenditures | Cost-Share Percentage |
PT Government |
GoC |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
PT |
GoC |
|||
First $3.27 per capita |
100 |
0 |
$3,270,000 |
Nil |
Next $6.56 per capita |
50 |
50 |
$3,280,000 |
$3,280,000 |
Next $6.56 per capita |
25 |
75 |
$1,640,000 |
$4,920,000 |
Remainder |
10 |
90 |
$361,000 |
$3,249,000 |
TOTAL |
$8,551,000 |
$11,449,000 |
||
| 298 | Requests for DFAA since 1970 |
|---|---|
232 |
Events that have received a final payment |
118 |
Events approved under the 2008 Guidelines |
60 |
Active DFAA events |
10 |
Events with PS for final audit review |
7 |
Requests for assistance pending approval |
7 |
DFAA events with a federal share >$300M |
4.97 |
Average DFAA Lifecycle, in years |
7:1 |
Public : Private Sector Costs |
29 |
Average Duration of Disaster, in days |
8 |
Average OiCs Approved, by fiscal year |
7 |
Average Payments Issued, by fiscal year |
PT Threshold for Federal Assistance
For a province or territory to be eligible for the DFAA, costs must exceed the below threshold:
| Province/Territory (Q4 2020) | Threshold $3.27 |
|---|---|
Newfoundland and Labrador |
$1,703,663 |
Prince Edward Island |
$522,262 |
Nova Scotia |
$3,201,706 |
New Brunswick |
$2,554,900 |
Quebec |
$28,042,797 |
Ontario |
$48,177,299 |
Manitoba |
$4,511,240 |
Saskatchewan |
$3,851,681 |
Alberta |
$14,479,926 |
British Columbia |
$16,826,933 |
Yukon |
$137,916 |
Northwest Territories |
$147,392 |
Nunavut |
$128,462 |
- Date modified: