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For the past three years, the most immediate threat to public health in Canada has been the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 47,000 people have died from the virus to date, straining Canada’s healthcare and social safety nets to the breaking point. Well over a million Canadians are also suffering from the effects of long COVID. Grief over COVID-related deaths, or mental health effects due to the pandemic itself, are also still taking their toll. But as devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer believes other threats loom larger.

“This includes what is arguably the largest looming threat to the health of our communities and our planet,” Dr. Theresa Tam, wrote in her 2022 public report on the state of Canada’s public health system, “the climate crisis.”

Climate change is already inflicting a toll on the health of Canadians, although climate disasters like floods and heatwaves often aren’t seen as a healthcare crisis. Nonetheless, Tam’s report points out the obvious – and not-so-obvious – ways climate change will only exacerbate Canada’s current health inequities, as well as the marginalization of vulnerable communities.

Many social impact organizations may not have the words ‘climate change’ anywhere in their mission statement or strategic plan. Unfortunately, their clients – from students dropping in for after-school programming to homeless clients seeking shelter – are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis. In some cases, the consequences of one type of climate-related healthcare issue magnify an existing one, or even worsen pre-existing social and economic inequalities.

Future of Good dove into Tam’s 103-page annual report to untangle all of the ways climate change is, and will, worsen human health in Canada. Many of these disasters interact with each to create even worse outcomes for human health. But there are also opportunities for social impact organizations, even ones without explicit health mandates, to help the communities they serve adapt to our new reality: 

Ocean storm surge and rise

The threat: Global temperature increases will cause oceans to rise above their traditional peaks over the coming decades, threatening the roughly 6.5 million Canadians who long along Canada’ coastlines. Climate change will also increase the chances of flooding during storms, and potentially more intense ocean storms overall thanks to increased humidity.

Health impacts: Today’s storm surges can be life-threatening to coastal communities, as Atlantic Canada residents found during Hurricane Fiona’s recent carnage. But the damage done by ocean rise and storm surge can also go well beyond immediate damage: floods can threaten the drinking water supply for a community, for instance.

Overlap with other threats: The effects of sea level rise can be worsened if a community is unable to adapt to the rising tides, or cannot easily afford to upgrade fragile infrastructure like water pipes and breakwaters to withstand storm surge. There can be an element of environmental racism, too — many communities unable to upgrade and adapt are racialized.
The traumatizing experience of watching one’s home be swept away by the sea can lead to devastating mental health consequences for survivors. PTSD, anxiety, and depression are not unusual in survivors of climate disasters such as coastal flooding. These issues can, in turn, be worsened by the long-term consequences of extensive storm damage, such as food insecurity and inadequate water infrastructure.

Urgent responses by the social impact sector: Aside from assisting the victims of ocean rise and storm surge, social impact organizations in coastal areas can help communities prepare for the possibility of storm surge by promoting the use of emergency kits and advising on the most frequent health concerns in the immediate aftermath of a storm.

 

Loss of permafrost and sea ice

The threat: Rising global temperatures are being felt most acutely in the Far North, where sea ice patterns — known to Indigenous communities for tens of thousands of years — are being disrupted in unusual ways. The result is sea ice and permafrost melt in places where it was once dependably solid. While permafrost covers 40 percent of Canada today, it could drop by 20 percent in less than a century.

Health impacts: Northern infrastructure, especially winter roads, are built overtop of permafrost. Sudden melting can damage underground pipes and storage tanks for water, the 2022 report noted, as well as damage roads and buildings, and even kill hunters who fall through ice they expected would be capable of holding their weight.
As the 2022 report also notes, the loss of sea ice can also release contaminants — including toxic mercury and even anthrax — into local fish and mammals. These, in turn, can slowly poison local consumers, particularly Indigenous communities that depend on country food.

Overlap with other threats: The loss of sea ice and permafrost doesn’t just harm communities of humans. Polar bears, caribou, and other animals native to the Far North are losing their habitats to global warming. Their endangerment threatens local biodiversity, as well as traditional, nutrient-rich food sources for Indigenous communities.
The destruction of pipes and water tanks due to permafrost melting can lead to a myriad of health problems from a lack of potable water to the spread of water-borne diseases. Combined with changing temperature and baseline water quality, the 2022 report says, these events could even lead to microbial growths to form inside community water infrastructure.

Urgent responses by the social impact sector: Non-profit tech initiatives built by and with Indigenous communities, like eNuk help communities monitor the effects of climate change, including the now unpredictable movement of sea ice. There is room for additional initiatives or social impact organizations to pitch in, especially given the challenges of running internet applications in the Far North, where connectivity can range from mediocre to nearly nonexistent.

Worsening air pollution

The threat: The reliance on fossil fuels and internal combustion engines in Canada today are a major contributor to global warming. By driving up carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, these emissions make it more difficult for heat to escape the Earth and contribute to the ‘greenhouse effect.’ 

Health impacts: Current rates of air pollution contribute to 15,300 premature deaths every single year in Canada. Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke alone is believed to contribute to 570 and 2,700 premature deaths a year. Modern carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have also shifted the regions where certain plants grow, and even lengthened the allergy season. 

Overlap with other threats: Low-income, precariously-housed, and Indigenous people face disproportionate health risks from air pollution than other Canadian residents. People who suffer from cardiovascular or lung diseases are also at higher risk of health impacts from air pollution.

Environmental racism can also make the effects of pollution worse for certain communities. The Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Ontario is one such example — surrounded on all sides by Ontario’s notorious ‘Chemical Valley’ refining zone, it recently discovered that local concentrations of the carcinogen benzene are 44 times higher than the maximum safe limit for exposure.

Urgent responses by the social impact sector: Community service organizations with shelter space available for clients (be that temporary or long-term) can act as clean air spaces during wildfire or pollution-related events. This is already happening in smoke-prone cities like Vancouver, where the city routinely opens community centres and library branches outfitted with HEPA or MERV 13 filters for residents with breathing difficulties.
Aside from providing shelter from pollution itself, non-profits and charities that assist medically vulnerable clients, including disabled people and the elderly, can assist them with information and resources on how to live in smoky weather. Some organizations such as the B.C. Lung Association, run campaigns on how to recognize the signs of smoke-induced health difficulties.
 
 

More frequent, hotter heat waves

The threat: Days where temperatures climb over 30 C are not unusual in southern Canada, but global warming is making them far more frequent, unpredictable, and intense. Canadians are not as accustomed to extreme heat as more tropical countries, and our infrastructure is not well adapted to keeping people cool for extended periods of time.

Health impacts: According to the 2022 report, mortality rates in Ontario between 1996 and 2010 climbed by 2.5 percent for every 5 C average increase in temperature during the summer months. Extreme heat is especially dangerous for people with cardiovascular diseases, pregnant people, young people, elderly people, and people with mental illnesses. In extreme cases, prolonged exposure to heat can lead to fatal heat stroke or dehydration.

Overlap with other threats: There is a strong overlap between poverty and the likelihood of death from extreme heat. During the B.C. heat dome of 2021, the vast majority of the 619 people who died were elderly seniors who lived in impoverished neighbourhoods without adequate access to air conditioning. Homeless people are perhaps the most vulnerable population during extreme heat waves, especially if they cannot access drinking water or keep their food from spoiling.
Extreme heat also leads to agricultural issues like drought. These conditions inevitably become health-related when failed harvests lead to economic insecurity for local farmers, as well as food insecurity for communities. This is especially true for Indigenous communities reliant on seasonal foods such as salmon, seal, caribou, berries, or wild rice. Unusual or intense weather can disrupt the life cycles of these foods and disrupt efforts to harvest them.

Urgent responses by the social impact sector: One of the most effective ways to keep people safe during heat waves, according to the 2022 report, is to set a legal maximum indoor temperature. That type of regulation would need to be set by governments, but non-profits and charities concerned about the well-being of communities without adequate access to air conditioning could petition elected officials, launch awareness campaigns, and educate the public on the importance of access to cool indoor environments during heat waves.
Building new, affordable housing capable of withstanding Canada’s rapidly changing climate is also critical to protect long-term human health. While private developers often lead the charge on new home builds, organizations like the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association also try to help nonprofits retrofit existing buildings to be both energy efficient and comfortable.  
 

Faster spread of illnesses

The threat: Our rapidly changing climate is leading to the increased spread of diseases not normally found in Canada, such as Lyme. Rodents, mosquitos, and other disease vectors are also showing up in Canada and the northern U.S with greater frequency — between 10 to 50 percent more than in the early 2000s – thanks to global warming.

Health impacts: The spread of diseases like Lyme are leading to serious long-term health challenges for Canadians, especially for people who are already at high risk of complications from an infectious disease. Displaced or homeless people living in cramped shelters are at higher risk of catching and spreading infectious diseases, according to the report. Older adults with cardiovascular issues, as well as people with long-term disabilities or mental health issues of any kind, can also be at very high risk of serious illness or even death due to infectious disease.

Overlap with other threats: One of the main triggers for the rapid spread of previously known diseases in Canada is habitat loss. Animals which carry diseases in typically hotter climates, such as the southern U.S., are increasingly moving north and carrying diseases that would otherwise never be found here.
In fact, nearly every other aspect of climate change discussed in this report overlaps, in one form or another, with the heightened spread of disease.
One of the most insidious climate related health effects is the way climate change is exacerbating rates of anxiety and depression. Surviving a natural disaster, the disruption of traditional ways of life — especially living on the land — and the stresses climate change places on communities can all lead to worsening mental health problems.

Urgent responses by the social impact sector: Non-profits and charities working with vulnerable populations, such as the homeless or medically fragile people, can consult public health authorities to learn how to detect and reduce the spread of disease in communities. 

Some of the consequences listed above may seem far-fetched to anyone who hasn’t lived through a climate disaster like a wildfire or flood, but Dr. Tam’s report makes it all too clear that human health is already at stake. “The changing climate is already having a measurable impact on our health, both physically and mentally,” she wrote. 

While the climate crisis may seem very different from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tam points out that the latter crisis has shown just how resilient and adaptable Canada’s public health system can be. The same is also true for the social impact sector, who has remained on the frontlines of the pandemic despite funding shortfalls, public health restrictions, and technological challenges. 

As Dr. Tam puts it, climate change will be a true test of readiness for Canada on all fronts — and not just to blunt the immediate consequences of climate disasters. “Our actions now will determine the magnitude of future impacts,” she wrote, “how quickly they occur, and the extent to which our communities and future generations are able to recover and thrive.”

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