Item - 2019.HL10.4

The Board of Health recommends that:

1.  City Council request the Medical Officer of Health, the Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services, and the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services, to collaborate on the continued implementation of the City-Wide Heat Relief Strategy through the Resilience Strategy and the Heat Relief Working Group.
 

2.  City Council request all City Divisions, including City Planning, Corporate Real Estate Management, Environment and Energy, Information and Technology, Municipal Licensing and Standards, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, Social Development, Finance and Administration, and Strategic Communications, to continue to incorporate hot weather response activities as part of their divisional mandates.

3.  City Council request the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to:

a.  identify and implement increased access to cool spaces that meet the needs of vulnerable individuals for the summer of 2020; and

b.  report on an implementation and communications plan in February 2020.

4.  City Council request staff to report in 2020 on the progress of incorporating the City-Wide Heat Relief Strategy through the Resilience Strategy.

The Director, Strategy and Preventive Health, Toronto Public Health, gave a presentation on Strengthening Heat Resilience in the City of Toronto.

Evidence demonstrates that temperatures are rising and heat waves are more frequent and longer in duration due to climate change. The resulting exposure to extreme heat is a health risk that needs to be managed in a coordinated manner across City Divisions who are also mitigating other climate change-related risks. Over time, it is important for the City and its residents to continue to evolve the response to heat through strategies that build the City's resilience to extreme weather.

In 2018 and 2019, the Board of Health and City Council directed Toronto Public Health (TPH), along with other City Divisions, to review the City's hot weather response. An interdivisional Heat Relief Working Group, co-chaired by the Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services, and TPH, was convened in the fall of 2018 to develop a Heat Relief Strategy for the City.  

This report describes the results of the collaboration among City Divisions to implement a coordinated Heat Relief Strategy in 2019. The report also makes recommendations for the City to continue to strengthen its response to hot weather. As mitigating the impacts of heat is a key aspect of the City's efforts to build resilience to climate change, incorporating the Heat Relief Strategy into planning for resilience is recommended as an effective long-term approach.