Storm cleanup financial assistance information for residents

As the community continues to clean up following the province-wide storm on May 21, Clarington has received some questions about financial assistance available to residents on private property to help their efforts. The Municipality of Clarington has no financial disaster assistance programs as those are offered provincially. Ontario has two funding streams available, one for residents affected by a disaster and one for municipalities. The Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program is activated by the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the event of a natural disaster after an assessment has been made of the area affected. The Municipality of Clarington has no jurisdiction over this program. The province determines if the damage sustained to an area warrants program activation and whether applicants qualify for any funding support. The program aims to help “homeowners, residential tenants, small owner-operated businesses, farmers and not-for-profit organizations affected by a natural disaster,” as stated on Ontario’s website. Residents can apply individually and must meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the program guidelines. Homeowners can submit their applications by downloading the online application form for homeowners and tenants. For more information on the program, contact the province directly at 1-877-822-0116 or DisasterAssistance@Ontario.ca. The application deadline is 120 days after the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announces that the program has been activated in your area.

The second funding stream is the Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program, designed to help affected municipalities manage the cleanup following a natural event based on a cost-sharing formula between the municipality and the province. This program is only used to assist municipalities in paying for repairs to public infrastructure damaged due to a natural event and does not extend to private property.