New Community Wildfire Prevention Grants Now Available

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Oct. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (Wawanesa) has partnered with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and collaborated with FireSmart™ Canada to offer a new community wildfire prevention grant. Wawanesa and ICLR will make available six grants of up to $15,000 each to help communities across Canada increase their resilience to wildfire through prevention and mitigation activities.

“Climate change is here and one of the most destructive implications is the increased threat of wildfires,” said Carol Jardine, President of Canadian P&C Operations for Wawanesa. “As a Canadian owned and operated mutual company, we want to help communities across Canada improve their climate resilience and protect themselves, their homes and their businesses. That’s why we are working with experts at ICLR and FireSmart Canada to reduce the risk of wildfires and help make communities across Canada safer and more resilient.”

These grants will support prevention, mitigation, and preparedness activities aligned with FireSmart Canada’s seven disciplines:

Education
Emergency planning
Vegetation management
Legislation
Development
Interagency cooperation
Cross training

“From 2008 to 2021, wildfires have cost Canadian insurers more than $4.6 billion, with over 87,000 claims filed. This represents only a portion of the overall costs caused by wildland fires, as uninsured public infrastructure is damaged, lives are disrupted, and individual health – both physical and mental – is affected,” said Paul Kovacs, Executive Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. “Wawanesa’s leadership in supporting grants targeted at preventing and mitigating the impacts of wildfires will help communities increase their resilience to this increasingly prevalent peril, serve as learning opportunities for other communities wishing to take action, and reduce the immense personal toll wildfires have on people and businesses across our country.”

“FireSmart Canada is happy to provide support for and input towards Wawanesa’s Community Wildfire Prevention Grants,” said Ray Ault, Director of FireSmart Canada. “This is an important initiative that will help Canadians increase their wildfire resilience.”

Grant applications must be received before December 1, 2022 at 12 p.m. CST and will be evaluated by a committee of wildfire prevention subject matter experts from Wawanesa, ICLR, and FireSmart Canada. Grant recipients will be announced on March 1, 2023.

Interested community groups can visit the program webpage for project eligibility and application criteria at wawanesa.com/wildfire-grants. Communities across Canada are now welcome to apply.

About The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, founded in 1896, is one of Canada’s largest mutual insurers, with over $4 billion in annual revenue and assets of $12 billion. Wawanesa Mutual, with executive offices in Winnipeg, is the parent company of Wawanesa General, which offers property and casualty insurance in California and Oregon; Wawanesa Life, which provides life insurance products and services throughout Canada; and Western Financial Group, which distributes personal and business insurance across Canada. Wawanesa proudly serves more than two million policyholders in Canada and the United States. Wawanesa actively gives back to organizations that strengthen communities where it operates, donating well above internationally recognized benchmarks for excellence in corporate philanthropy. Learn more at wawanesa.com

About The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR)
Canada’s leading disaster research institute, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), was established by the insurance industry in 1997 as an independent, not-for-profit research and outreach institute to champion disaster resilience in Canada. ICLR is an international centre of excellence affiliated with Western University. The Institute develops and champions evidence-based disaster safety solutions that can be implemented by homeowners, businesses and governments to enhance their disaster resilience. Visit www.iclr.org for more information.

About FireSmart™ Canada
FireSmart Canada was founded over 20 years ago to address common concerns about wildfire in the wildland urban interface. Since then, FireSmart Canada has led the development of resources and programs designed to empower the public and increase neighbourhood resilience to wildfire across Canada. FireSmart Canada operates under a mandate from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and is supported by federal, provincial and territorial wildland fire management agencies and partners with municipal governments and the private sector. For more information, visit firesmartcanada.ca

For more information:

Brad HartleSenior Communications Specialist, Media Relations
The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
Phone: 1-844-946-6282
media@wawanesa.com