Heat-related deaths and illnesses are on the rise in Canada

Ottawa Citizen

a day ago

Heat-related deaths and illnesses are on the rise across Canada and expected to get worse in coming years, new research from Health Canada is warning.
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Heat-related deaths, in particular, have increased rapidly in the past decade compared to the three decades preceding it, according to the analysis from the Climate Change and Health office at Health Canada. Two-thirds of heat-related deaths in Canada since 1981 occurred in just the last seven years. That period includes the years 2018 and 2021, when extreme heat events were responsible for hundreds of deaths, particularly in British Columbia, where at least 619 people died during an unprecedented heat dome in 2021. Temperatures soared above 40 degrees in many parts of the province.
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The analysis comes during another hot summer in which there have been extended periods of extreme heat in many parts of Canada, including the most recent heat wave that has put Ottawa and much of eastern Canada under heat warnings for days.
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We can expect more of those and, with them, more deaths and severe health outcomes, the researchers warn.
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'Canada is experiencing warming at twice the rate of the global average due to climate change. The intensity and frequency of heat events in Canada are projected to increase in the future also because of climate change.'
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Heat-related deaths in Canada are anticipated to increase by as much as 10.7 per cent by 2090, according to one projection.
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Heat is already taking a serious toll on the health of Canadians, especially on the elderly, although heat-related deaths and illnesses may be underreported because data is inconsistent, limited and often incomplete.
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According to data from many, but not all provinces and territories, there were 916 recorded deaths caused by exposure to extreme heat in Canada between 1981 and 2022. Two-thirds, or 607, of those deaths occurred between 2016 and 2022, 328 of them in 2021 alone. Death rates for men were higher than for women, and more than 85 per cent of all heat-related deaths were in people over 45 years old, 30 per cent of them in people over 80.
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Those numbers are likely underreported, the paper notes, because it can be difficult to determine whether extreme heat 'was a causal or a contributing factor to these deaths.'
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Heat-related deaths can occur in people with underlying heart or other preexisting diseases but are usually attributed to the underlying medical condition. In cases where people are found dead, it can also be difficult to attribute the death to hyperthermia, or heat stress.