Intact Centre

What Intact Centre does

The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation is a non-profit applied research centre located within the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, Canada, established in November 2015 through a CAD $3,178,380 gift from Intact Financial Corporation, Canada's largest P&C insurer. The centre operates with a core staff of approximately eight people and a national mandate to reduce the negative impacts of extreme weather and climate change on Canadian homes, communities, governments, and businesses across four peril areas: flooding, wildfire, extreme heat, and climate-related financial risk.

Its product portfolio is built on proprietary, expert-validated assessment frameworks rather than software platforms. Core offerings include the Home Flood Protection Check-Up (an interactive online self-assessment tool generating a confidential personalized report), the Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up (a 50-question self-assessment co-developed with 53 flood experts over two years), the Alberta FireSmart Community Scorecard, and six industry-specific Climate Risk Matrices (CRMs) for institutional investors. These are supplemented by accredited professional training courses for insurance brokers, mortgage professionals, home inspectors, and real estate agents (delivered through IBAC, MPC, CAHPI, and college partnerships), free downloadable infographic guides, and a research-report library including Weathering the Storm (2019), Under One Umbrella (2020), Treading Water (2022), and Irreversible Extreme Heat (2022).

The centre's business model is non-commercial: all tools, training, and reports are provided free of charge, with operating funding sourced from research grants, donations (including the founding gift and ongoing support from Intact Financial Corporation), and partnership agreements with government agencies (Standards Council of Canada, National Research Council, FCM Green Municipal Fund, provincial governments) and industry associations. Distribution occurs through bilingual (English/French) website downloads, professional-association continuing-education platforms, and regional municipal programs in Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI, and Quebec.

Name

Intact Centre

Legal name

Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation

Website

https://intactcentreclimateadaptation.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation is a University of Waterloo–based non-profit applied research centre that develops free, expert-validated assessment tools, training, and reports to help Canadian homeowners, municipalities, governments, and businesses reduce climate-related flood, wildfire, and extreme heat risks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Adaptation Research and Advisory Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Adaptation & Resilience Planning Platforms (CAPEX Prioritization, Cost–Benefit, NBS) (EUABALAH), Climate Adaptation & Resilience Programs (BPADALAD)

Keywords

• Climate adaptation research
• Flood risk assessment
• Wildfire preparedness
• Extreme heat resilience
• Climate risk analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Waterloo

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Donations: The Intact Centre operates as a university research center funded through grants, donations, and partnership agreements. Established in November 2015 through a gift from Intact Financial Corporation. Ongoing funding comes from government agencies, industry partners, and charitable foundations for specific research projects and programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation is an applied research centre within the University of Waterloo that produces free climate adaptation research, assessment tools, training courses, and downloadable guides for homeowners, municipalities, financial institutions, and professionals. Its core offerings include the Home Flood Protection Check-Up, the Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up, professional training courses with continuing education credits, and industry-specific Climate Risk Matrices for institutional investors.

Product overview

The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation is a research center at the University of Waterloo that offers a portfolio of climate adaptation products and programs rather than a unified software platform. The core offerings include the Home Flood Protection Program (with its interactive Home Flood Protection Check-Up tool) and the Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up self-assessment tool. These are complemented by professional training courses developed with industry partners, downloadable climate-ready infographic guides covering flood, wildfire, heat, and nature-based solutions, and a comprehensive library of research reports and resources. The products work together to provide homeowners, municipalities, and businesses with actionable guidance and assessment tools to reduce climate and extreme weather risks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Home Flood Protection Program: A residential flood risk reduction education program launched in 2016 to help residents take action to reduce their flood risk and reduce damage in the event of a flood.
• Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up

Products and services

• Home Flood Protection Check-Up An interactive, free online tool that walks homeowners through their property to assess current flood protection measures and identify steps to strengthen resilience, providing a confidential report with recommended actions.
• Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up A 50-question self-assessment tool developed with 53 flood experts that helps Canadian municipalities evaluate flood hazards and the implementation of risk-reduction measures for heavy rainfall, riverine, and coastal flooding.
• Home Flood Protection Program A residential flood risk reduction education program that helps residents take action to reduce their flood risk and minimize damage in the event of a flood through assessments, training, and resources.
• Home Flood Protection Training Courses Free professional training programs for insurance brokers, mortgage professionals, home inspectors, and real estate agents offering continuing education credits on flood protection and home adaptation.
• Protecting New Brunswick Homes from Flooding and Erosion Risk Course A free five-module online course covering rainfall, riverine, and coastal flooding tailored for New Brunswick residents while being applicable across Canada.
• Protecting PEI Homes from Flooding and Erosion Course A free five-hour self-directed online course developed with the PEI ClimateSense Program to help professionals and community leaders discuss flooding and erosion risks with residents in Prince Edward Island.
• Climate Risk Matrices (CRMs) Industry-specific tools to help institutional investors identify material physical risks from climate-related extreme weather events. Six CRMs are profiled covering electricity transmission, commercial real estate, banking, property and casualty insurance, hydroelectricity, and wind electricity generation sectors.
• Alberta FireSmart Community Scorecard A practical, cost-effective tool developed in partnership with FireSmart Alberta that helps communities assess wildfire preparedness and identify areas for improvement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 home flood assessments completed from 2016-2018 in Burlington, Toronto, and Saskatoon
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of WaterloocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Intact Centre is housed within the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 students. Waterloo is celebrated as Canada's most innovative university for 24 consecutive years and is a national hub for climate change scholarship, home to North America's first graduate program in climate change.
• Global Risk InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal Risk Institute partnered on the Climate Risk Matrix research and global institutional investor survey. The Institute focuses on risk, pension, innovation and policy expertise and is a key partner in advancing climate risk assessment frameworks for the financial sector.
• Stanford Global Projects CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanford University's Global Projects Center collaborated on the global institutional investor survey and Climate Risk Matrix development. This partnership brings academic rigor and international credibility to the centre's financial sector climate risk work.
• AET GroupcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAET Group served as the contracted delivery agent for Home Flood Protection Assessments, completing over 500 assessments in Burlington, Toronto, and Saskatoon from 2016-2018. They were responsible for on-the-ground delivery of the centre's flagship residential program.
• Seneca College and Fleming CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Intact Centre developed a college-level flood risk assessment course in partnership with Seneca and Fleming Colleges, expanding the reach of professional training in climate adaptation.
• Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with MPC to develop the How Mortgage Professionals can Help Protect Homes from Flooding training course. The 1.5-hour free online course provides continuing education credits for mortgage professionals.
• Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIBAC collaborated on developing the Insurance Broker Flood Protection Training course, which is accredited for continuing education in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. The course helps insurance professionals advise clients on flood risk reduction.
• Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAHPI partnered with the Intact Centre to develop the Home Inspector Flood Protection Training course, helping home inspectors add value for clients by explaining flood risks and protective actions.
• Canadian Red CrosscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Intact Centre developed training programs for the Canadian Red Cross as part of their stakeholder outreach, providing flood protection education to enhance emergency preparedness capacity.
• FireSmart AlbertacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with FireSmart Alberta to develop the Alberta FireSmart Community Scorecard, a practical tool to help communities assess and improve wildfire preparedness. The scorecard was piloted across ten diverse Alberta communities.
• FireSmart CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with FireSmart Canada to create wildfire resilience guidance including Three Steps to a Cost-Effective FireSmart Home infographic and best practices for wildfire risk reduction in wildland urban interface areas.
• Standards Council of Canada (SCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCC partnered on multiple reports including Weathering the Storm and Under One Umbrella, with the objective of developing National Standards of Canada for flood resilience. SCC is leading development of standards for climate adaptation.
• National Research Council Canada (NRC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNRC partnered on the Weathering the Storm report and is committed to supporting climate change adaptation and resiliency measures in codes, standards and guides based on the latest science and research.
• CSA GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSA Group published the Managing Flooding and Erosion at the Watershed-Scale report, providing practical guidance for governments on nature-based solutions for flood risk reduction. CSA Group leads North American standards development.
• Government of New BrunswickminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Government of New Brunswick supported development of the Protecting New Brunswick Homes from Flooding and Erosion Risk training course, a five-module free online course covering rainfall, riverine, and coastal flooding.
• PEI ClimateSense ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPEI ClimateSense Program partnered on the Protecting PEI Homes from Flooding and Erosion course, offering the Intact Centre's content to interested parties across Prince Edward Island.
• Green LearningminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Green Learning to create Home Flood Protector teacher resources and hands-on activities for students in grades K-12, expanding climate education to younger audiences.
• Green Municipal FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreen Municipal Fund collaborated with the Intact Centre to develop a free one-hour video training series to help municipal staff use the Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up tool effectively.
• Canadian Home Builders' AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with the Canadian Home Builders' Association and University of Alberta to develop the Wildfire Resilience Best-Practice Checklist for home construction, renovation and landscaping.
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCM CEO Carole Saab endorsed the Municipal Flood Risk Check-Up, stating it helps municipalities benchmark flood risk management practices against national best practices. FCM represents municipal governments coast to coast.
• Climaceutics Health SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Climaceutics Health Solutions to survey 60 pharmacies across six Canadian cities on disaster preparedness, finding most lack comprehensive emergency plans for climate-related disruptions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Global Risk Institute (GRI): Toronto-based risk research non-profit with explicit focus on climate risk in financial services. Directly comparable as Intact Centre's research partner on Climate Risk Matrices; overlapping audience of institutional investors and pension funds.
• Canadian Climate Institute: Canada's leading climate research and policy organization producing independent analysis on net-zero pathways and climate risk. Highly comparable to Intact Centre's research-to-policy orientation, with broader policy scope but similar non-profit, Canadian mandate.
• Ouranos: Quebec-based consortium on regional climatology and adaptation, delivering applied climate science to governments and industries. Directly comparable as a Canadian climate adaptation applied-research body with bilingual capacity and provincial-government partnerships.

Emerging players

• Climate Bonds Initiative: International organization mobilizing capital for climate solutions via green-bond standards and analytics. Comparable audience overlap with Intact Centre's financial-sector CRM work, though focused on transition/mitigation finance rather than physical adaptation risk.
• Jupiter Intelligence: Commercial climate risk analytics platform serving insurers, asset managers, and infrastructure operators with physical risk scoring. Comparable function to Intact Centre's Climate Risk Matrices, but delivered as enterprise SaaS rather than free research outputs.

Broad incumbents

• Pembina Institute: Canada's longest-standing clean energy and climate solutions think tank. Comparable as a Canadian environmental non-profit producing research and policy advice, though broader in scope (energy transition) than Intact Centre's adaptation focus.
• CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project): Global disclosure system for investors, companies, and cities on environmental impact. Comparable as a non-profit standard-setter shaping how financial institutions and municipalities report climate risk, with a much larger international footprint than Intact Centre.
• International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): Winnipeg-headquartered international policy research institute covering climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainable finance. Comparable as a Canadian-based, mission-driven research non-profit producing applied tools and policy analysis for governments and financial institutions.

Others

• Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM): National municipal government association with the Green Municipal Fund. Already an Intact Centre partner, FCM serves as both a distribution channel and an adjacent peer in convening Canadian municipalities on climate-resilience programming.

Regional players

• The Climate Reality Project Canada: Canadian arm of Al Gore-founded climate awareness and education non-profit. Comparable as a Canadian climate non-profit focused on education and mobilization, though primarily advocacy/awareness versus Intact Centre's applied adaptation research.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/25040873
• Xx.com/icca_canada
• Facebookfacebook.com/homefloodprotect

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Intact Centre