Health Systems: Are we ready for a warmer Canada?
“Extreme heat is costly and deadly—and it’s getting more frequent and intense throughout Canada.” – Canadian Climate Institute
People living in Canada are feeling the effects of climate change through more extreme weather events such as extreme heat, heatwaves, and an increasing number of hot days. Recent heatwaves across western Canada have many people asking: will our healthcare systems be able to cope with a warmer and less predictable climate? And can our communities adapt to warmer temperatures to safeguard their health and well-being?
Closing the Gap: Addressing Heat-Related Health Risks in Canada
Due to climate change, extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense across Canada, posing significant challenges to public health and well-being. In response, Canadian provinces, territories, and local health authorities/units are working to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of rising temperatures through comprehensive planning, infrastructure investments, and community engagement. These efforts will be essential for not only protecting people in Canada from the health impacts of extreme heat but also creating safer, more resilient, and sustainable communities for generations to come.
Since 2008, Health Canada’s Extreme Heat Program has been aimed at addressing the health risks associated with extreme heat. Through the development of research, guidance, and tools, Health Canada has collaborated with partners across the country to enhance heat preparedness and response. A notable achievement is the widespread adoption of Heat Alert and Response Systems (HARS), which have expanded considerably. In 2008, HARS only covered a limited number of health authorities, however by 2024, they covered 80% of all Canadian health authorities.
Along with the emergency response actions contained as part of a comprehensive HARS, more preventative actions can be implemented to protect at-risk populations from the health impacts of extreme heat. These preventative actions include assessing heat-health vulnerability, reducing urban heat islands, and addressing the mobility and transportation needs of at-risk populations to locations that are safe from the heat (e.g. designated cooling shelters). These examples of preventative heat-related actions are informed by the best available scientific evidence. Collaboration between policymakers, public health officials, community organizations, and other partners is also essential for developing and deploying solutions that address the specific needs and vulnerabilities of diverse populations.
ClimateData.ca: Understanding the future of extreme heat in Canada
Understanding how the climate is expected to change is critical for making decisions for reducing future impacts. For extreme heat impacts, understanding future temperature trends can aid decision-makers in developing locally relevant adaptation actions that will reduce the risks of extreme heat on public health. ClimateData.ca’s Health Sector Module contains various data products, case studies, links, and tools that can help decision-makers as they look to reduce heat-related health risks.
Analyze Climate Data
ClimateData.ca’s Analyze Tool allows decision makers to calculate a wide range of climate indices using custom climate threshold values, such as the number of days per year where the maximum temperature exceeds 40°C. This is an example of a context-specific limit beyond which potential impacts, including increased illness, disease, emergency room visits, mortality, or damage to critical health infrastructure may result.
Spatial Analogues Tool
The Spatial Analogues app is one of ClimateData.ca’s newest and most powerful tools. It provides a novel way of visualizing future climate changes by allowing users to envision and prepare for their city’s future climate by exploring cities that are already experiencing similar climatic conditions. Looking to Québec City as an example, as the climate warms, the city is expected to experience considerable climatic changes—from more frequent and intense heat to shifting precipitation patterns.
Designing Future-Ready Buildings
Typically, the design of buildings, including key health-related infrastructure such as hospitals, relies on climate data from historical records. However, we now know that the past is no longer a good indication of the future when it comes to climate. To increase the resiliency of our health systems, designing health-related infrastructure using future climate data may be the best approach. ClimateData.ca has a Learning Zone Module dedicated to sharing different kinds of future climate data specifically tailored to the planning and design of Canadian buildings. The Module includes:
- Building Climate Zones projections
- A building’s thermal performance requirements are determined by the climate in which the building is situated. This climate can be described by Climate Zones. The projected shifts in Building Climate Zones due to climate change provide a high-level understanding of changing energy consumption patterns in buildings, highlighting that reliance on historical climate data alone for design is no longer sufficient.
- Future weather files
- Historical weather files are commonly used by building designers, engineers, and energy modelers for evaluating the performance of building designs. Incorporating future climate data into these weather files can allow these professionals to consider future climate while continuing to use typical building performance simulations. Guidance for using future weather files is also available.
- Future Building Design Value Summaries
- The Future Building Design Value Summaries offer a curated set of climate design values tailored for over 660 locations across Canada. These summaries include essential data such as driving wind, rain pressure, design snow loads, and hot day design temperatures, among others. Presented in a user-friendly format, the summaries integrate advisory guidance on the application of these values, helping building professionals navigate the complexities of future climate data. The data are categorized by levels of global warming, aligning with forthcoming standards and codes.
Next Steps: Enhancing resilience to extreme heat in Canada
As Canada addresses escalating challenges from rising temperatures and extreme heat events, it is important to prioritize actions that safeguard public health. Recent events, such as the heat dome in western Canada in 2021, underscore the urgency of implementing effective adaptation strategies to protect at-risk populations. Ongoing efforts to enhance Health Canada’s extreme heat programming can help bridge these gaps and improve community resilience. At the same time, data tools on ClimateData.ca offer strategies for analyzing climate data and designing infrastructure to withstand rising temperatures.
Visit Health Canada’s website for more information.