Extreme heat contributing to more deaths in some Canadian cities

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/06/2024 (503 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With extreme heat comes a higher risk of dying, especially for seniors, renters, and those who live where heat waves are less common, recent Statistics Canada research suggests. In Winnipeg, however, the link is not as clear.

As temperatures reached 30 degrees in the city Monday, the question remains as to whether Manitoba will consider regulation changes that set a maximum indoor summer temperature for rental units. So far this season, two Manitobans have been hospitalized due to heat-related illness.

Heat waves over the past two decades have increased the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory and non-accidental deaths among residents of some Canadian cities, the June 19 StatCan study shows, but the Winnipeg data presents some uncertainty, likely because of the city’s smaller population size and less frequent cases of extreme heat.

Unlike some of the other cities included in the study, particularly Montreal and Toronto, “there is no clear signal” more Winnipeggers died after experiencing extreme heat between 2000 to 2020, said the study’s author Matthew Quick, research analyst at Statistics Canada. It may be that extreme heat hasn’t had a major effect on mortality here, or that more research is needed.

“We don’t know going forward what will happen, but what we can say is in the past, this seems to have had impact: more people tend to die during extreme heat events,” Quick said.

Overall, the study found extreme heat contributed to 900 excess deaths in 12 cities over the 21-year time period. The risk of dying by respiratory causes went up 11.7 per cent, increased by 4.2 per cent for non-accidental causes, and increased by 3.8 per cent for respiratory causes. People older than 65, renters, and people living in cities where extreme heat is less frequent were at higher risk.

Based on his previous research on the prevalence of air conditioning in Canada, Quick hypothesized that’s because renters are less likely to have air conditioning and people who don’t experience the heat as often are less likely to be acclimatized. The study used a strict definition of what counts as “extreme” heat, based on Environment Canada standards for issuing a heat warning in each region. In Winnipeg and southern Manitoba, extreme heat means temperatures between a daytime high of 32 C and a nighttime low of 16 C for at least two days.

Winnipeg had three days of extreme heat per year, on average, while Toronto had 11 extreme-heat days on average over the past two decades.

Manitoba’s regulations for landlords are designed for heat in winter, not air conditioning in summer. There’s no maximum temperature standard for rental units and no cooling requirements, despite corresponding requirements to maintain a minimum temperature. There’s also been some confusion about whether changing the rules would be a provincial or a municipal responsibility.

In response to a request for comment from the Residential Tenancies Branch about whether any regulation changes that would set requirements for landlords to ensure their properties don’t get hotter than a certain maximum temperature are being considered, a provincial spokesman didn’t directly respond. Instead, the province said in a statement the Residential Tenancies Branch provides information on minimum-temperature regulations based on the City of Winnipeg’s liveability bylaw. Renters in buildings where existing air conditioning is not working can contact the branch, the statement said.

Although advocacy on maximum-temperature standards is ongoing, it’s not something the Manitoba Climate Action Team has made an official statement on. The coalition’s recommendations, published last summer, instead call on the province to ramp up access to geothermal heat pumps for heating and cooling, to make building codes more energy efficient and support retrofits, and to reduce emissions.

The potential health impacts of extreme heat underscore the need to consider the upfront costs in light of long-term costs, said Bethany Daman, communications manager of the Manitoba Climate Action Team.

“We need to calculate the human impact of inaction,” Daman said.

Since May 1, there have been nine heat-related visits to Winnipeg emergency departments and urgent care centres, resulting in two hospital admissions, a Shared Health spokesperson said Monday. Those numbers are likely low, the spokesperson said, as the data may not capture all types of heat-related symptoms, such as dizziness and dehydration.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca