This article was written by Fatima Raza and was published in the Globe & Mail on June 19, 2024.
Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement for Toronto and surrounding areas on Tuesday, as a heat wave that prompted health warnings across Central Canada and the Maritimes is also contributing to an increase in pollution.
The weather service said hot and sunny conditions were expected to cause increasing ground-level ozone concentrations north of Lake Ontario.
Meteorologist Gerald Cheng said this means people may be at risk of breathing in higher levels of pollutants, making it especially difficult for the elderly, children and those with pre-existing respiratory illnesses.
He said the Air Quality Health Index was expected to reach moderate to high risk levels.
Environment Canada has warned of dangerously high temperatures this week in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Daytime highs could hit 35, with the humidity making it feel like it’s above 40. New Brunswick and large parts of Nova Scotia were placed under a heat warning Tuesday, with the mercury expected to hit 30 in Fredericton.
The same weather system has been causing record-setting temperatures in the central and eastern United States, with roughly 80 million people from Indiana to New England under heat advisories or excessive heat warnings.
Public officials have warned people to take precautions to keep cool and hydrated during the heat wave – advice echoed by Mr. Cheng.
“It’s certainly important to ensure that we stay hydrated and avoid physical activities when it’s warmest,” he said. “Keep the drapes and blinds closed and check on vulnerable neighbours to make sure they’re all right at this time because it can be a very difficult time.”
The Toronto District School Board said it was taking measures to keep students safe, particularly in the majority of schools that do not have central air conditioning.
The school board’s spokesperson Shari Schwartz-Maltz said of the 582 schools across the district, 177 were built with central airconditioning systems. Additionally, 243 others have recently installed large air-conditioning units to create cooling centres in school libraries or gymnasiums. The remaining schools have smaller air-conditioning units that provide cooling to libraries.
She said school staff are encouraged to keep the lights and computers off to reduce heat indoors. In some cases, recesses are cancelled if there’s no shade in the playground. If the playground, for example, has a lot of trees, they might just go and sit under trees.
“Staff are watching the kids very carefully, especially the little kids, to make sure everybody’s hydrated and encouraging them to have water breaks,” Ms. Schwartz-Maltz said.
Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator said there will be enough electricity supply to meet the additional demand created by the heat wave.
A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care said all nursing homes in the province, except for two that are being redeveloped, are fully airconditioned.
Some local governments in the affected areas were opening cooling centres and directing people to public pools and splash pads to keep cool. In Toronto, the city said people experiencing homelessness can seek reprieve from the heat at various drop-in centres, shelters and 24-hour respite sites across the city.
A spokesman for the City of Montreal said each borough has been creating a list of places for people to cool down, including some pools that are opening earlier than planned.
Environment Canada’s seasonal summer forecast, released earlier this month, predicted a warmer-than-usual season across the entire country, with the greatest chance of high temperatures everywhere east of Manitoba.
Last year was the hottest year in recorded history globally, as climate change makes such severe weather more common.
There have been deadly heat waves in Canada in recent years, notably British Columbia’s 2021 extreme heat event that saw more than 600 deaths. A heat wave in 2018 was linked to 86 deaths in Quebec, including 66 in Montreal.
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