<p>Nature-based solutions have become an increasingly popular choice in addressing the climate change adaptation deficit. However, many nature-based climate adaptation (NBCA) projects face challenges within the broader structures and processes that govern infrastructure implementation and maintenance. For any NBCA project to succeed, it is important to foster favourable conditions in the systems in which the project operates. Through 29 key-informant semi-structure interviews, this research examined the enabling conditions (factors that help or hinder project success) surrounding a novel and interjurisdictional NBCA project in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada: the Boundary Bay Living Dike (BBLD). The BBLD is an NBCA pilot project designed to safeguard against coastal flooding and sea level rise while protecting the ecologically significant salt marsh in front of the dike. Building upon barriers and enablers to adaptation literature, the case study analysis led to a conceptualization of enabling conditions defined by four characteristics: (1) the degree to which the condition is present, (2) the timeframe over which it applies, (3) the actors needed to implement it, (4) and the condition’s interactions with other conditions. This concept was applied to the 51 enabling conditions identified for the BBLD, organized into six categories (environmental, financial, institutional, operational, political, and systemic). The findings provide insight into how formal systems might be adapted to better accommodate NBCA, and in the interim, how actors might identify informal solutions to bridge the gaps left by those formal systems.</p>