Canada’s building codes are a mess, and the climate era’s coming

By The Big Story

In today’s Big Story podcast, last month a horrific earthquake in Turkey made it clear that outdated building codes — or non-compliance with updated codes — can turn a normal disaster into a historic one. And while Canada may not have the same earthquake risk or code non-compliance that Turkey has, we have our own problems.

Kathryn Blaze Baum is an investigative reporter at The Globe and Mail. She joins us to discuss Canadian building codes, and the ways in which they’re failing to keep pace with a changing climate.

“It could be the end of the decade before … the new climate reality that we’re living in, is really taken into consideration when setting code requirements,” she said.

What makes sense about the systems surrounding building regulations in Canada? How are we adapting, if at all, for what’s to come? And why can’t we figure out a solution that puts the whole country on safer, and saner, footing?

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

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