Be prepared for hot summer temps starting next week, says B.C. gov’t

The B.C. government says it’s preparing for heat waves and the potential for strong summer heat events, starting early next week, and you should too.

At a panel event Friday, speakers including Health Minister Adrian Dix, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, Dr. Sarah Henderson with the BC Centre for Disease Control, and others emphasized the need for immediate emergency management and climate readiness.

“It’s no surprise that we have been experiencing higher summer temperatures and more extremely hot days in the last few years in B.C. because of climate change,” said Henry. 

“We are a little surprised by this, but we are expecting to see some heat coming in next week. And we need to be prepared for this.”

Henry said especially vulnerable populations are more likely to feel the “ill health effects” of heat when people haven’t been given time to acclimatize. 

She added that the most vulnerable population includes older people, people who live alone or are socially isolated, and people with chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, or respiratory illnesses.

Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan confirmed that a hot and dry summer is coming.

“It is pretty obvious to the modeling — not just the Canadian models but all the international models as well — that we are looking at likely a warmer than normal summer period, so June, July, and August in B.C. as well as the rest of the country,” said Castellan.

“We will stay in cooler temperatures for another six or so days, before we go into a heat event next weekend or late next week and likely remain in a warmer probabilities for the rest of the month.”

Dix said the B.C. government has made “vital” preparations, including adding new air conditioning units at 47 long-term care homes and upgrading air conditioning units at 149 more.

Dr. Henderson announced that this year the province will fund the installation of even more air conditioners.

“I’m so pleased so gratified to be able to announce that we are tripling this program, providing an additional $20 million so that even more British Columbians can benefit from a free air conditioner. So additional funding — BC Hydro estimates that approximately 19,000 new air conditioning units will be installed for people who rely on them to keep them both cool and safe. And overall, the program will provide over 28,000 air conditioning units to people across the province so that when the hot weather comes, they are prepared,” said Henderson.

Dix said the province has also ramped up ambulance and paramedic dispatchers who are prepared to respond to heat emergencies.

Over the last several years, the province has developed the B.C. Heat Alert and Response System, which Henry says is a way to inform the public about extreme events. 

“We’ll be putting out heat warnings when we have higher than normal temperatures over a period of days,” said Henry. “But [when] it’s continually getting hotter over a period of days and not cooling down at night, that is when we would be in a state of extreme heat or emergency and we’ll be notifying people about that.”

Province is taking extra measures to help people deal with extreme heat

The province will also be adding extreme heat warnings to highway signs to inform people about expected extreme heat events, similar to what we see with wildfire, construction, and road safety messaging.

There is extra emphasis on keeping seniors safe from extreme heat. The BC Coroners’ Service confirms there were 619 heat-related deaths in the 2021 Heat Dome, with the majority of the deaths being elderly people.

The province also announced a $6 million grant on Friday to the BC Care Providers Association’s EquipCare BC program.

“[The grant is] to help publicly subsidize long-term care and assisted living facilities homes to purchase, replace, or upgrade equipment that will help things such as cooling and air filtration,” said B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix.

In addition, B.C. has developed new guidelines to clarify rules around installing air conditioning units to help renters and landlords work together to safely install them.

“The number one risk factor for injury and death during extreme hot weather, is what we call ‘indoor overheating,’ so living in an environment that gets too hot without access to safe indoor temperatures,” said Henderson.

In the case of a major heat event, the province will also reimburse local governments and First Nations to open community cooling centres.

With files from Kate Walker.

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