Nearly five years after floods raced through hundreds of Quebec communities and forced thousands from their homes, a major lender’s decision to stop issuing new mortgages in flood zones is the latest challenge for cities trying to adapt to a changing climate. Desjardins Group announced that as of Feb.
1, it would no longer offer new mortgages for properties in “0-20 year” flood zones — where there is a five per cent chance of flooding in any given year — because of what it called the rising impact of climate change. There are some exceptions: buyers can get financing for up to 65 per cent of a home’s selling price if the previous owner had a Desjardins mortgage and the property has protective measures to prevent flooding. But the company’s decision has left mayors of low-lying towns worried that homeowners will be left with properties that no one will buy or that are massively devalue