What is The Climate Change Adaptation Program?

The Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP) is led by industry with the goal of helping producers successfully adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. CCAP provides funding for the development and implementation of collaborative regional adaptation strategies, innovative adaptation action at the farm level and industry communication. CCAP does this through its two sub-programs – the Regional Adaptation Program and the Farm Adaptation Innovator Program. The funding for these programs is fully allocated.

Regional Adaptation Program (RAP)

The Regional Adaptation Program (RAP) defines regional strategic priorities in the context of climate change and delivers collaborative projects for agricultural adaptation. The program enables partnerships to be built across the BC agriculture sector and all levels of government to address the defined priorities. The Regional Adaptation Program has developed adaptation plans specific for each region. These plans identify and prioritize climate issues, and include climate projections, details about impacts to agriculture, prioritized climate issues, and regionally specific strategies and actions. RAP involves regional working groups, many of which have stayed involved in the projects that have resulted in each region.

Regional adaptation plans:

  • Facilitate collaborative planning between producers, agricultural groups and local and provincial government agencies
  • Strengthen understanding of the potential impacts of climate change to agriculture in the region
  • Identify regionally suitable options, strategies and actions for adapting to climate issues

Farm Adaptation Innovator Program (FAIP)

The Farm Adaptation Innovator Program (FAIP) delivers funding for farm-level, applied research projects that help producers adapt to the impacts of climate change. Projects bring together researchers, farmers, agricultural organizations, educational institutions, technical experts and others.

Local Research:

  • In BC, the diversity of the production types and growing conditions makes local research particularly important because results or findings from other locations may not be applicable or accurate.
  • Local research gives producers the opportunity to see practices and technologies in the field and think about how they might apply them to their own operations.

Project Duration:

  • Projects run from two to four years to allow methods to be tested over multiple growing seasons and under a variety of conditions.
  • Research takes place on farm sites throughout the province.

FAIP Projects:

  • Demonstrate and evaluate innovative practices on working farms
  • Create informational resources, such as fact sheets and workbooks
  • Share knowledge through workshops, field days and other activities

History of CCAP

2007

Growing Forward, a federal, provincial, and territorial initiative, replaces the former Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization. Multiple programs are funded through this initiative, including the Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP).

2008

The Investment Agriculture Foundation (IAF) and the BC Agriculture Council (BCAC), through their subsidiary ARDCorp, began delivering CCAP. A group of contractors, collectively known as The Climate & Agriculture Initiative (CAI), was contracted to execute program deliverables.

2010

The BC Agriculture Climate Change Action Plan was produced, which provided strategic direction and concrete actions for adapting to and reducing the impacts of climate change.

2012

The Climate Agriculture Initiative completed a climate risk and opportunity assessment series for the B.C. agriculture sector which resulted in 3 pilot regional adaptation strategies and a series of reports on farm-level adaption practices.

2012

Growing Forward 2 replaces Growing Forward, and is a renewed commitment to Canada’s agriculture sector by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work together in building the productivity, profitability and competitiveness of our agricultural industry.

2013

IAF and BCAC receive five years of funding through Growing Forward 2 to continue delivering CCAP. The Regional Adaptation Program begins being delivered.

2014

The Farm Practices & Climate Change Adaptation research project is completed. This project explored the role of on-farm practices to increase resilience and reduce risk. The Farm Adaptation Innovator Program begins being delivered.

2018

The Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) is launched, replacing Growing Forward 2. CAP is a $3-billion, five-year investment by federal, provincial, and territorial governments to strengthen and grow Canada’s agricultural sector. IAF & BCAC receive five years of funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to continue delivering CCAP.

2021

The BC Agriculture Council (BCAC) Board of Directors announces their decision to focus their organization on advocacy and step away from delivering government programs through their subsidiary, ARDCorp. BCAC recommends that IAF take over the program delivery responsibilities for CCAP.