Home Flood Risk Assessment Training Course Offered Online Across Canada
Peterborough ON (April 26, 2019) — As residential basement flooding continues to rise in Canada, Canadians look for practical support to help take action to reduce their risk. To meet the growing demand from industry professionals and residents, the next Home Flood Risk Assessment Training (HFRAT) Course will be available online across Canada through OntarioLearn beginning in May 2019.
The course provides practical training to home inspectors, insurance brokers, real estate agents, municipal engineers, developers and other industry specialists to help homeowners address the growing threat of basement flooding. The course was developed as a collaborative effort between Fleming College, Seneca College and the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation (Intact Centre) at the University of Waterloo. Additional support was provided by Toronto Hydro and Intact Financial Corporation.
The first offering of the course was run from September to December 2018 at Seneca’s Newnham Campus. The March 2019 online intake had participants from a wide range of sectors impacted by home flooding including employees at the municipal and provincial level involved with various climate change policies, disaster recovery and engineering, customer service and risk managers from insurance companies, as well as home inspectors.
“I love the diverse group of fellow students, it allows for dynamic conversations in the discussion threads,” said Valerie P.B., current student of the HFRAT course.
Course participants complete a sample home flood risk assessment on a single detached, semi-detached or townhome of their choice using a nationally applicable electronic flood risk assessment tool developed by the Intact Centre at the University of Waterloo. Since 2017, this tool has been used to assess flood risks and identify opportunities to reduce these risks for hundreds of homes. Successful graduates have access to the tool upon course completion.
“The HFRAT course covers a lot of relevant flood related topics in appropriate detail and also identifies external resources, government programs and organizations that I wasn’t familiar with,” said Adam M, recent graduate of the HFRAT course.
While open to anyone, the course has been built to complement the existing training of home inspectors, municipal engineers, emergency managers, landscape designers, home construction and renovation professionals. Insurance adjusters will also benefit from this training so they can provide improved customer service to their clientele. The course provides participants with the fundamental training required to complete a visual assessment of overland, infiltration and sewer backup flood risks, communicate opportunities to reduce these risks and identify where further investigation is required.
The online Home Flood Risk Assessment Training (HFRAT) Course is available through OntarioLearn and will run from May 14 – August 20, 2019. The cost is $448.47 and includes a one-year subscription to the Home Flood Risk Assessment Tool.
For more information, and to register, please visit: www.FlemingCollege.ca/HFRAT.
About Fleming College
Located in the heart of Central
Ontario, Fleming College has campus locations in Peterborough, Lindsay, Cobourg
and Haliburton. Named for famous Canadian inventor and engineer Sir Sandford
Fleming, the college features more than 100 full-time programs in Arts and
Heritage, Business, Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, General Arts
and Sciences, Health and Wellness, Justice and Community Development, Skilled Trades
and Technology, and Continuing Education. Fleming College has more than 5,900
full-time and 10,000 part-time students, and 71,000 alumni.
About Seneca
Combining career and professional skills training with theoretical knowledge, Seneca’s expert faculty provide a polytechnic education to 30,000 full-time and 60,000 part-time students. With campuses in Toronto, York Region and Peterborough and education partners around the world, Seneca offers degrees, graduate certificates, diplomas and certificates in more than 300 full-time, part-time and online programs. Seneca’s credentials are renowned for their quality and respected by employers. Co-op and work placements, applied research projects, entrepreneurial opportunities and the latest technology ensure that Seneca graduates are highly skilled and ready to work.
Find out more at senecacollege.ca.
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About the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo is one of Canada’s top innovation universities. With more than 36,000 students and the world’s largest co-operative education system of its kind, its unmatched entrepreneurial culture, combined with an intensive focus on research, powers one of the top innovation hubs in the world. For more information, visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
About the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation
The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation (Intact Centre) is an applied research centre with a national focus within the Faculty of Environment and the University of Waterloo. The Intact Centre works with homeowners, communities, government and businesses to identify and reduce the impacts of extreme weather and climate change.
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For more information, please contact:
Sara O’Halloran
Communications Officer
sara.ohalloran@flemingcollege.ca
705.749.5530 x 1366
Lisa Pires
Media Relations
Seneca College
416-805-5443
Matthew Grant
University of Waterloo
519-888-4451
Blair Feltmate
Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation
226-339-3506