As part of the Climate Champions program, which supports local initiatives helping communities build resilience, Wawanesa has awarded a $48,470 Local Grant to OBV SCABRIC for its Decentralized Bioretention Training project. Five organizations across Canada received funding in 2025, and OBV SCABRIC is the only recipient from Québec.
Decentralized bioretention training
Launched in 2024, the Decentralized Bioretention Training project aims to offer a series of theoretical training sessions to local decision-makers (municipalities, regional county municipalities, organizations, etc.). The goal is to raise awareness of best practices in sustainable stormwater management and provide practical tools they can apply in their communities.
Decentralized bioretention involves creating small, shallow, vegetated basins—such as rain gardens—across multiple properties. This approach captures stormwater runoff and allows it to infiltrate naturally into the ground, reducing erosion and helping recharge groundwater supplies.
Since the beginning of the project, the Roussillon and Jardins-de-Napierville RCMs, the Cities of Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Constant, as well as Comité ZIP du Haut Saint-Laurent and Vigile verte, have received a total of 30 hours of theoretical training and on-site field visits with experts.
“We are honoured to have been selected by Wawanesa for this grant. It will allow us to train even more local stakeholders, giving them a clearer understanding of greener solutions they can integrate into their practice,” said Geneviève Audet, General Manager of OBV SCABRIC.
Full details about the initiative, along with a series of videos filmed during the initial training sessions, are available on the project page.
Wawanesa Climate Champions: Local Grants
Since its launch in 2024, the Wawanesa Climate Champions: Local Grants initiative has provided more than $488,000 to support community-driven projects. The 2025 recipients are OBV SCABRIC in Sainte-Martine, Québec; Living Lakes Canada in Nelson, British Columbia; Hamilton Conservation Foundation in Hamilton, Ontario; Long Point Biosphere Region in Port Dover, Ontario; and The Couchiching Conservancy in Carden, Ontario.