By the numbers: Canada’s disaster financial assistance program

Advertisement

Advertise with us

OTTAWA - Canada's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program, or DFAA, was launched in 1970, setting a formula for how provinces and territories would split costs with the federal government when disaster strikes.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/03/2024 (910 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – Canada’s Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program, or DFAA, was launched in 1970, setting a formula for how provinces and territories would split costs with the federal government when disaster strikes.

The formula is based on population, with Ottawa covering a larger share of the costs in smaller provinces with less ability to pay. The formula means that the federal coverage for a $60-million disaster claim from Prince Edward Island would be 87 per cent, while it would cover just four per cent of the same-sized claim from Ontario.

Here’s a quick look at DFAA claims to date:

Highway 1 is seen covered in floodwaters looking towards Chilliwack, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Highway 1 is seen covered in floodwaters looking towards Chilliwack, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

$8.5 billion: Federal disaster payments made since 1970.

$6.1 billion: Federal disaster payments made since 2010.

283: Number of DFAA claims made by provinces and territories since 1970.

114: Number of claims made since 2010.

7 years: Average amount of time it takes for full disaster aid payment to be made after an event takes place.

$31.8 million: Average amount of federal disaster assistance per claim.

137: Number of claims made for flooding, or 48 per cent of total claims made.

$29 million: Average federal disaster assistance payment for flood claims.

84: Number of claims made for rainstorms or major storms including hurricanes, or 29 per cent of total claims made.

$21.7 million: Average federal disaster assistance payment for storm claims.

27: Number of claims made for wildfires, or 9.5 per cent of total claims made.

$67 million: Average federal disaster assistance payment for wildfire claims.

34: Number of claims that have not yet been fully paid.

$699 million: Most expensive closed claim to date, for 2011 spring flooding in Manitoba. It took 12 years for all the funds to flow.

15 years: The longest it has taken to fully pay out a claim, for flooding that happened in Quebec in 1996.

33: Number of claims for which full payment took 10 or more years.

8: Number of claims that have ever been fully paid within a year. The last time that happened was in 1986, after flooding in Alberta.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2024.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Parts of River Heights hammered by storm

Melissa Martin 5 minute read Preview

Parts of River Heights hammered by storm

Melissa Martin 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:54 PM CDT

A powerful storm cut a swath of destruction through River Heights on Sunday, leaving much of the area without power.

Nobody was hurt in the storm.

By the time it subsided, parts of the quiet neighbourhood, especially Borebank and Lindsay streets between Grant and Taylor, had been ravaged: power lines downed, Manitoba Hydro poles toppled, trees splintered and crashed down on vehicles and homes.

In one case, a vehicle was flipped into a yard and sat under a partially downed tree. Shingles were stripped from roofs. Some residents described looking out during the storm and seeing power lines ablaze and the blue glow of electricity arcing over their backyards.

Read
Yesterday at 5:54 PM CDT

NDP minister needs lesson in political civility

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

NDP minister needs lesson in political civility

Dan Lett 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine’s decision to intercede in Winnipeg’s mayoral election may be surprising to some political observers. To others, however, it is entirely on brand.

On Tuesday, Fontaine posted a video on social media in which she expressed concern that former city councillor and Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Kevin Klein was entering the race to challenge incumbent Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The caption on the video was blunt: “I mean, really, who chooses to work for Count Dracula?”

“Kevin Klein once worked for Peter Nygard. Peter Nygard is Canada’s equivalent to (American sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein — had his own little island, did unspeakable, disgusting things to women and girls … anyways, I just thought that Winnipeggers would want to know that Kevin Klein, at one point, worked for Peter Nygard,” she says in the video.

Read
Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

All quiet on the Hellebuyck front

Mike McIntyre 8 minute read Preview

All quiet on the Hellebuyck front

Mike McIntyre 8 minute read 4:58 PM CDT

Pull up a chair, folks, as we address the elephant in the room. Or, to be more precise, the decorated goaltender who is not in the room. Or on the ice. Or even in the city.

Not surprisingly, the Connor Hellebuyck situation took centre stage Tuesday as members of the Winnipeg Jets held their first media session following an informal, pre-training camp skate.

“We’re definitely going to get asked about it. That’s no chirp to anybody. I think that’s just the reality of the situation,” admitted veteran defenceman Dylan DeMelo, who took part in an hour-long practice at Hockey For All Centre that involved nearly every member of the organization.

With one very notable exception, of course.

Read
4:58 PM CDT

Four teens dead in crash near Winnipeg Beach

1 minute read Yesterday at 4:52 PM CDT

Four teenagers have died in a highway crash near Winnipeg Beach.

Manitoba RCMP are investigating the two-vehicle collision, which happened at about 9:15 p.m. Sept. 6. A vehicle travelling west on Highway 229 was struck while crossing Highway 8, RCMP stated in a news release Monday.

Everyone inside the westbound vehicle died at the scene, including the driver, an 18-year-old female from Winnipeg, and three passengers: an 18-year-old male from Gimli, an 18-year-old female from Sandy Hook and a 17-year-old male from Ear Falls, Ont.

The intersection is controlled by stop signs for westbound and eastbound traffic. Both vehicles went into the southwest ditch, with one vehicle rolling and landing on its roof, RCMP stated.

Wearing the Maple Leaf lived up to the hype for DeMelo

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

Wearing the Maple Leaf lived up to the hype for DeMelo

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read 5:13 PM CDT

When Dylan DeMelo stepped into the dressing room and saw his name and number on the back of a Team Canada namebar, that’s when things really sunk in.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman was already excited about the prospect of suiting up for his country in an international event for the first time of his career at the age of 33 before he even got overseas for the 2026 IIHF men’s world hockey championship, but the experience definitely lived up to the advance billing.

“It was kind of like a dream come true feeling,” DeMelo said on Tuesday after the Jets held a captain’s skate. “I never had that chance ever. For me, it was super cool.

“It was an amazing experience and it just gave you a boost of confidence coming into the year.”

Read
5:13 PM CDT

Manitoba doctor denies working to revive Carberry ER in response to recruitment lawsuit

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

Manitoba doctor denies working to revive Carberry ER in response to recruitment lawsuit

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 6, 2026

A Manitoba doctor has denied he was working as a recruiter after an Ontario doctor accused him of misleading him about a position at the Carberry hospital.

Dr. Klevis Iliriani, who worked at the hospital in Carberry from May to August 2024, filed his statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench earlier this year.

Iliriani, who lives in an Ottawa suburb, has alleged recruiters negligently misrepresented the job at the Carberry hospital and breached the terms of his contract, which resulted in less pay than promised.

His court filing names defendants Dr. Dave Maharajh and Barry Banek as the recruiters.

Read
Sunday, Sep. 6, 2026