Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) is now available for eligible British Columbians in the following regions who may have been impacted by overland flooding from May 18 to June 1, 2020:

• Regional District Central Kootenay
• Regional District East Kootenay
• Regional District Kootenay Boundary – Electoral Areas C, D and E
• Columbia Shuswap Regional District – Electoral Area A

This assistance includes all First Nation communities, electoral areas and municipalities within the geographic boundaries of these regional districts.

DFA is available to homeowners, residential tenants, small business owners, farmers, charitable organizations and local government bodies that were unable to obtain insurance to cover these disaster-related losses.

Applications for this DFA event must be submitted to Emergency Management BC (EMBC) by Sept. 28, 2020.

British Columbians can access the DFA application online: http://www.gov.bc.ca/disasterfinancialassistance

Facts about Disaster Financial Assistance:

DFA is available to qualifying homeowners, residential tenants, small business owners, farm owners and charitable organizations. Applicants should be aware of the following:

• Financial assistance is provided for each accepted claim at 80% of the amount of total eligible damage that exceeds $1,000, to a maximum claim of $300,000.
• Claims may be made in more than one category (e.g., homeowner and farm owner).
• A homeowner or residential tenant must show that the home is their principal residence.
• Seasonal or recreational properties, hot tubs, patios, pools, garden tools, landscaping, luxury items (e.g., jewelry, fur coats and collectibles) and recreational items (e.g., bicycles) are not eligible for assistance.
• Small business owners and farm owners must demonstrate that their farms and businesses are their primary source of income.
• Charitable organizations must provide a benefit of service to the community at large.

Assistance is also available to local governments for:

• emergency response measures authorized by EMBC according to response task number.
  • These include incremental costs associated with their Emergency Operations Centre.
  • Financial assistance is provided for each accepted response claim at 100%.
  • Completed response claim summaries and supporting documentation must be sent to the respective EMBC regional office.
• recovery measures to replace essential materials and rebuild or replace essential public infrastructures to the condition it was in before the disaster.
  • Assistance is provided for each accepted recovery claim at 80% of the amount of total eligible damage that exceeds $1,000.