St. Catharines Emergency FLAP: What the City Actually Pays For in 2026

The City of St. Catharines now runs the Emergency Flood Alleviation Program as its live intake route for basement flood prevention. If you applied to the original FLAP after 1 July 2026, the City already has your application and you do not need to apply twice.

The money has not changed: 90% of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $5,000. What changed is how you get there.

What the programme covers

• Normally-open mainline backwater valves
• Sump pits and primary sump pumps
• Secondary (backup) pumps, battery-powered or water-siphon
• Weeping tile disconnection from the sanitary sewer
• Reconnection of the weeping tile to the sump system
• Related discharge piping
• Your contractor's initial assessment
• The Plumbing-Only permit

Two changes worth knowing about

Your contractor's assessment is now an eligible cost. Under the old programme a City coordinator attended for free. Under Emergency FLAP, your own contractor does the assessment and quotation — and the City lists that initial assessment cost as eligible, so it goes into the same 90% claim as the rest of the job. The permit cost is eligible too.

Your home does not need to have flooded. The City states this plainly. This is a prevention programme, and the point is to get the work done before the next storm rather than after it. A dry basement is not a disqualification.

Who is eligible

• A single-detached or semi-detached home
• Built before 2012
• Inside St. Catharines city limits
• Connected to the City's sanitary sewer system
• All work by a licensed plumber under a valid Plumbing-Only permit

The part people miss

The City is explicit that meeting the eligibility requirements does not guarantee funding, and that completing eligible work does not guarantee reimbursement. It depends on funding being available when your application is reviewed.

That is the honest reason to get an application in before you commit to the work — not urgency for its own sake. If the funding is allocated, a perfectly eligible job can still come back unpaid.

What it costs you

On a $4,500 job the City reimburses $4,050 and your share is $450. On a $6,500 job the 90% figure would be $5,850, but the grant caps at $5,000 — so your share is $1,500. Every dollar above roughly $5,556 is entirely yours, which is why scoping the job to land inside the cap matters.

You can model your own number on our St. Catharines rebate page, which has a slider and a four-question eligibility check.

This is a reimbursement, not a grant up front: you pay the contractor in full, the work passes inspection, and the money follows about four to six weeks after your documents go in.

Want it checked properly? Book a consultation call: 647 206 3327