Avalanche Canada Receives a $ 10 million grant from the British Columbia government to support their critical work in developing and providing avalanche safety and awareness for the province’s mountainous regions.
“Avalanche Canada has been committed to funding security for a number of years and this grant meets that need,” said Mike Farnworth, Secretary of Public Safety and Attorney General. “Avalanche Canada’s work is critical to our public safety, especially as there is an increasing interest in winter recreation and the incidence of extreme weather conditions due to climate change. I am delighted that we can work with this organization to support their important work. “
Approximately 75% of all Canadian avalanche deaths occur in BC, and approximately 90% of Avalanche Canada’s services are provided in that province. With this grant, Avalanche Canada will be able to expand its regional forecasts to underserved areas in BC, improve avalanche safety training for young people and offer more programs for winter recreationists of all kinds.
This investment will also enable Avalanche Canada to use the federal funds made available in 2019 to implement the National Avalanche Strategy.
“This ensures the long-term sustainability of all of our programs and enables us to expand our services to underserved areas of the province,” said Gilles Valade, Executive Director of Avalanche Canada.
“I would also like to thank the MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, Doug Clovechok. Doug is our local MLA and a strong and consistent advocate of public avalanche safety funding. We are grateful for his service to this cause. “
MLA Doug Clovechok
In turn, Clovechok said he was pleased yesterday to announce a $ 10 million investment in Avalanche Canada, whose funding sources have been challenged in recent years.
“After two years of voicing my concerns to the Minister through Budget and appreciating debates and letters to the NDP government, I am thrilled that Avalanche Canada will receive the sustained annual funding it deserves. This national organization serves the whole country, but has 95% of its forecasting stations in BC and spends 80% of its budget here in the province, ”he said.
With this investment, Avalanche Canada can now receive federal funding to expand and stabilize programs.
Avalanche Canada is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to the safety of public avalanches. It publishes free daily avalanche forecasts for much of western Canada’s mountainous regions throughout the winter, coordinates and delivers avalanche awareness and education programs, provides curriculum and support for Avalanche Canada instructor training programs, and acts as a single point of contact for avalanche information and works closely with many various avalanche research projects at home and abroad.
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