Join the BARC Program
Building Adaptive and Resilient CommunitiesBuilding Adaptive & Resilient Communities (BARC)
Many will know BARC as a national capacity-building program for municipalities focused on adaptation and resilience. Over 120 municipalities, large and small, have used the BARC framework, tools and resources to guide their adaptation and resilience-building efforts; however, BARC has grown to become much more than a program. BARC is the window through which ICLEI engages in adaptation and resilience policy development, financing, applied research, resource development, capacity building, networking, and much more.
What is BARC?
BARC is a national program focused on resilience and adaptation. BARC offers a comprehensive way to respond to the impacts of climate change, develop and implement an adaptation plan, and protect the people, property, and prosperity of your community. Our decades of experience in the field of municipal governance will give you the know-how needed to respond to the impacts of a changing climate.
Why choose BARC?
- A proven and widely-recognized adaptation framework
- Program features are flexible and tailor-able to your municipality
- Builds internal capacity and multi-stakeholder collaboration
- Access to innovative tools and resources
- Collaborate with experts and peers in other municipalities
- Prepare for costly and extreme weather events
- Make informed decisions to improve resilience
120+
Framework users
2100+
Climate impacts addressed
3150+
Adaptation actions identified
Member Benefits
All members of the Building Adaptive and Resilient Communities Program receive the following core services and benefits:
Public recognition
Celebrate your accomplishments with awards and communication materials at the completion of each BARC Milestone to share with your community.
Become part of a growing movement
Gain inside access to the BARC Network and engage with colleagues from a wide spectrum of communities across Canada.
Research assistance
We provide localized climate projections and support the development of climate change impacts for your community. We also possess a wealth of knowledge on diverse best management practices for community adaptation.
Expertise
We deliver to tools and materials to carry out community risk and vulnerability assessments as part of your planning process. Our substantive network of industry professionals can be engaged for targeted research, outreach, or training.
Planning guidance
We use a comprehensive and holistic framework for setting adaptation objectives and targets, selecting adaptation actions, and drafting an adaptation plan.
Implementation support
We help set your plan for success by determining the most important implementation considerations, and corresponding progress indicators.
Community stakeholder outreach
We can help you determine who to bring to the table, providing basic facilitation and communication help to maximize outreach and engagement around your adaptation efforts.
Progress updates and regular check-ins
We set goals and deadlines with you and will help keep things on time and on schedule. Update reports will help keep things on track and give communities shareable materials.
Dedicated ICLEI liaison
We match you with one of our adaptation experts for consultation, technical support, and guidance throughout the adaptation planning process.
Unlimited BARC tool access
Take advantage of our dynamic online platform to record your climate impacts, workshop results, vulnerability and risk data, and adaptation actions in a centralized location.
Pricing
ICLEI members receive a 20% discount on BARC services. Discounted rates for regional participation may be considered.
Less than 50,000
Population size50,000 to 200,000
Population sizeOver 200,000
Population sizeContact us for more information about the BARC Program.
BARC USERS
Ajax
Baie-Saint-Paul
Barrie
Beaconsfield
Bonfield
Bracebridge
Brampton
Burlington
Caledon
Calgary
Cambridge
Campbell River
Candiac
Canmore
Capital Regional District
Charlottetown
Colwood
Conception Bay South
Courtenay
Courtney
Cowichan Valley
Delta
Devon
Dufferin
Duoro Dummer
Durham Region
Edmonton
Edmunston
Esquimalt
Essex
Fredericton
Gatineau
Georgian Bluffs
Grande Prairie
Gravenhurst
Greater Sudbury
Guelph
Halton HillsHamilton
Havelock Belmont Methuen
Hunstville
Huron-Kinloss
Iqaluit
Kawartha Lakes
Kenora
Kingston
Kitchener
Lake of Bays
Laval
London
Longueuil
Loyalist
Meaford
Metro Vancouver
Mirabel
Mississauga
Moncton
Montreal
Mount Pearl
Mont-Tremblant
MRC de Thérèse-De Blainville
MRC Mirabel
MRC Thérèse-De Blainville
Muskoka District
Muskoka Lakes
Nanaimo
National Capital Commission
New Glasgow
Niagara Falls
Nipigon
Norfolk County
North Vancouver, City
North Vancouver, District
Oakville
Orangeville
Orillia
Ottawa
Parry Sound
Peel
Penetanguishene
Peterborough, City
Peterborough, County
Pickering
Pincher Creek
Port Alberni
Port Moody
Portugal Cove, St Phillips
Prévost
Prince George
Qualicum Beach
Red Deer
Repentigny
Richmond Hill
Rivière-du-Loup
Saanich
Saskatoon
Selwyn
Shawanaga First Nation
St. Catherine’s
Sunshine Coast
Surrey
Thunder Bay
Timmins
Toronto
Ucluelet
University of British Columbia
Vancouver
Vernon
Victoria
Waterloo, City
Waterloo, Region
Wawa
WDGPH
Windsor
…and many more. The open-source foundation established by BARC has become so widely used that it’s impossible to accurately track all BARC users.
BARC Resources
4th BARC Impact Report
The open-source foundation established by BARC has become so widely used that it’s impossible for ICLEI to accurately track its uptake and application. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t try. The 4th BARC Impact Report highlights ways in which the BARC program has helped over 120 Canadian communities prepare for and address the risks of climate change over the past 15 years.
BARC Online Tool
The BARC Tool is an online resource to support municipalities as they move through the five Milestones of the BARC Program. Designed as a user-friendly online repository of information, the Tool takes users through each of the steps of a given milestone via specific tasks required.
Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation
The Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation provides a milestone-based framework to assist local governments in the creation of adaptation plans to address the relevant climate change impacts associated with their communities. BARC communities use this framework to guide adaptation and resilience planning efforts.
Examples of plans developed through BARC
Milestone 4
Click to view plan
…and many more. Please contact us for more information on the BARC program.
Reach us
iclei-canada@iclei.org
Suite 204
401 Richmond St. W
Toronto, ON
M5V 3A8
We respectfully acknowledge that ICLEI Canada’s work happens across Turtle Island which has traditionally been and is home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples since time immemorial.