Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Vulnerability Committee?
Vulnerability Committee stands for 'Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee'. It is a national committee consisting of senior decision-makers of all three levels of government, together with the engineering profession and other non-government organizations. It is referred to as the Vulnerability Committee in this website.

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Why was it created?
The Vulnerability Committee was created to conduct an engineering assessment of the vulnerability of Canada's public infrastructure to the impacts of climate change and facilitate the review of national and local codes and standards for infrastructure design, operation and maintenance in light of this new information.

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What kinds of studies will be done?
The Vulnerability Committee is studying four categories of public infrastructure: Buildings; Roads and Associated Structures; Storm water and Wastewater Systems; and Water Resources. A scoping study was completed in March 2007 to further classify the infrastructure into applicable categories, examine past and current work on climatic impacts on each infrastructure, confirm the availability of climate data and develop indicators of adaptive capacity. The scoping study produced a draft engineering protocol that was evaluated through a pilot project with the City of Portage la Prairie to assess their water supply system. Those results will, in turn, be used to conduct a Canada-wide assessment of each category. The four Canada-wide assessments will become the First National Engineering Vulnerability Assessment Report.

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When will the first national engineering vulnerability assessment be completed?
A progress report on the first national assessment will be issued in June 2008. It will include the results of the seven case studies that have been completed to date. Additional case studies and an assessment of their results will be required before the first national assessment report can be issued.

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What is the Vulnerability Committee process?

A scoping study focused on the four selection infrastructure categories (specifically: Buildings; Roads and Associated Structures; Storm water and Wastewater Systems; and Water Resources) was the first step in the National Engineering Assessment process.
Once the scoping study was completed, one pilot project was conducted with the City of Portage-la-Prairie to confirm the ability of the engineering protocol and the process to identify the key vulnerabilities.
The pilot, once complete, was used to make adjustments to the engineering protocol and then applied to case studies of infrastructures with municipal and provincial government hosts/partners. These case studies form the basis for assessing the engineering vulnerabilities of infrastructure at the component level.
Once there are a sufficient number of case studies for a given category, the results are combined by infrastructure category and assessed to draw conclusions on engineering vulnerabilities and recommendations that will form the First National Engineering Vulnerability Assessment Report for the four infrastructure categories.

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What is the end result of the Vulnerability Committee process?
The first result of the Vulnerability Committee process will be the First National Engineering Vulnerability Assessment Report. This work will be used to plan additional vulnerability assessments as well as to review and where necessary, make amendments to infrastructure codes, standards and design practices and facilitate such work. The Vulnerability Committee's work will be completed once such amendments are adopted so that climate change impacts have been adequately accounted for in engineering design, operation and maintenance of physical infrastructure. There will be a continued need to monitor and if necessary, adjust standards over time as projected changes in the climate are confirmed and further vulnerability assessments are completed.

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What happens once the National Engineering Vulnerability Assessment report is complete?
The results of the first national assessment will be used as key input to the review of infrastructure codes and standards that may need to be modified to account for future climate change. Engineering vulnerability assessments of the four selected infrastructure categories as well as others undertaken depending on the availability of funding and the willingness of partners/hosts to participate in the vulnerability assessment process.

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What do "mitigation" and "adaptation" mean in the Vulnerability Committee context?
Mitigation is defined as an intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks for greenhouse gases that are a driver for climatic change. This strategy is used to slow the rate of climatic change. In Canada, a primary mitigation strategy of engineers is to reduce greenhouse gases by improving energy efficiency of infrastructure and designing it for long-term sustainability.

Adaptation is the complementary strategy that deals with the anticipated consequences of a changing climate. It is crucial that engineers design infrastructure capable of adapting to new weather extremes as well as to the more gradual changes resulting from changes in climate.

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What is "vulnerability" in the Vulnerability Committee context?
For the purposes of this study only, the definition of 'vulnerability is 'the shortfall in the ability of public infrastructure to absorb the negative effects, and the positive effects, of changes in the climate conditions used to design and operate infrastructure.'

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Why is The Vulnerability Committee only looking at public infrastructure?
Public infrastructure is defined as that infrastructure that is owned and operated by governments. Professional engineers have a duty to serve and protect the public interest (life, health, safety, protection against economic loss and the environment). Public infrastructure is the most prevalent and widespread form of infrastructure that is planned, designed and operated on a broader scale in accordance with public policy and the public interest.

This being said, infrastructure design is governed by national and local codes and standards, which also apply to private infrastructure. Therefore the work of the Vulnerability Committee will also positively impact the design and operation of private infrastructure through improved codes, standard and design practices.

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Who are the Vulnerability Committee partners?
The Vulnerability Committee partners are Engineers Canada and Natural Resources Canada. Other Federal and Provincial government departments as well as municipalities and other non-government organizations such as CSA, FCM and Ouranos are contributing to the overall effort.

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Can I be involved in the Vulnerability Committee process?
Yes. The Membership on the Expert Working Groups is open to technical experts who work in the infrastructure area. Organizations or individuals wishing to join the Vulnerability Committee or an Expert Working Group should contact the Secretariat at info@pievc.ca to explore possibilities.

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Would someone from the Vulnerability Committee make a presentation to our organization?
Yes, you can contact the Vulnerability Committee secretariat at info@pievc.ca.

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