Ontario government announces relief funding for communities hit by April flooding

The Ontario government is stepping in to provide money for people hit by severe flooding in the spring, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced Friday afternoon.

Ontario government announces relief funding for communities hit by April flooding Flood victim said she was feeling 'deflated and dejected' before getting the news The Ontario government is stepping in to provide money for victims of severe flooding in the spring, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced Friday afternoon. In mid-April, water levels rose in many parts of the province due to melting snow and heavy rain. As homes and roads flooded, many communities declared states of emergency.

Three months later, the province has announced the list of communities where residents will be allowed to apply for the Disaster Recovery Assisance for Ontarians program. It reimburses victims of natural disasters for some of their costs — if they aren't already covered by their own insurance — like the cost of evacuating or repairing or replacing essential property. But the province has to "activate" it for affected communities before anyone can apply.

"It's just an overwhelming sense of relief," said Sarah Pappin. Her family — including herself and her husband, daughter and dog — hasn't been able to live in their home in Naughton, a part of Greater Sudbury, since it flooded in April. "We had to move forward with trying to make our home habitable again.

So, this will definitely help financially... [Now] it won't be a situation where we fix up the house and have to sell it because we can't afford to stay here with all the debt." People living in some parts of the following municipalities will be eligible to apply to the program because they were impacted by flooding in April (maps and the complete list is available on the Government of Ontario website): - Township of Armour - Village of Burk's Falls - Municipality of French River - City of Kawartha Lakes - City of Orillia - Township of Ramara - City of Greater Sudbury

The deadline to apply is Nov. 16, 2026. Extensive repairs needed Sarah's husband, Robert Pappin, has been slowly renovating their home over the past three months, because they couldn't afford a contractor, he told CBC. In the meantime, the family has mainly been living at a summer camp on Hanmer Lake owned by a relative, but are hoping to be back month in August.

The City of Greater Sudbury told CBC that approximately 700 homes were in flood-impacted parts of the city, but it noted that the figure is "not all-encompassing" because not all those homes may have flooded, and homes outside those areas may have also flooded. "When we found out that the insurance was not going to cover anything, I just basically did a lot of YouTube video watching about how to recover from a flood," Robert Pappin said, adding that he already had some of the skills to do plumbing and drywall.

The kitchen had to be ripped out and major appliances like the furnace and hot water tank had to be replaced, he said, adding: "It's hard to explain the extent of the damage." But their insurance wouldn't pay for anything because overland flooding was an exclusion on their policy, according to Robert Pappin. - Video Basements flooded in Coniston area of Greater Sudbury, Ont. -

Audio Moose Cree First Nation is taking steps to protect its most vulnerable citizens as it faces a risk of flooding Shortly after learning their insurance denied their claim, Robert Pappin said they learned about the provincial program and were "quite encouraged." He and Sarah estimated when speaking to CBC in July that the costs of the renovation work was upwards of $50,000, which they have been using lines of credit to cover, and hope to pay off with whatever the province might reimburse. "We're managing," Robert Pappin said.

"We're not getting any younger and we're getting closer to retirement, so I'm not really anxious to go into a whole lot of debt." Long time coming But then, they were just left waiting for news. "We didn't know how long it would take," said Sarah Pappin.

"We were just ... doing our best to follow up and say, please don't forget about us." News earlier this week from Minister Rob Flack — that Ottawa residents would be able to apply after flooding on Canada Day — was particularly hard to understand, said Sarah Pappin, since Sudburians hadn't received any word at the time about whether they would get access. "I'm sad that it took so long," Sarah Pappin said.

"When Ottawa was approved within two weeks, that's when you feel totally deflated and dejected, on top of the stress of being away from your home since the middle of April." Now that they have official confirmation, Sarah Pappin said she and Robert are going to spread the word. "I just feel a lot of relief for people."