Item - 2015.HL5.4

Climate change represents an important health issue of current and future concern. Potential health impacts of climate change include increased incidence of heat/cold-related illness and premature death; severe weather resulting in direct impacts such as injury and indirect impacts such as water-borne diseases; increases in vector-borne diseases; food system impacts including food insecurity and food-borne illness, and degraded air quality increasing cardiovascular and respiratory illness.

Toronto Public Health's new Climate Change and Health Strategy for Toronto (see Attachment 1) identifies specific actions and sets out a direction to better understand and respond to the health effects of climate change. These actions will be further developed together with existing climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience activities already underway at the City.

The strategy recognizes that while the approach to addressing climate change health risks is broad, different assessment, analysis and engagement techniques need to be applied to specific health risks to address each one effectively. This report provides an overview of the Climate Change and Health Strategy as part of efforts to address the health impacts of climate change in Toronto.