City of Vancouver staff have authored a report that asks city council to seek $215,000 from the provincial government to fund a project aimed at reducing “extreme heat risk” for people living in apartment buildings.
The report goes before council March 12 and explains that government has a “Disaster Resilience & Innovation Funding (DRIF)” program that is available to municipalities to improve resilience to disasters and hazards.
“If the application is successful, the DRIF funding will be used to identify where in Vancouver residents living in multifamily buildings are most at risk from extreme heat and how the city and other partners can reduce this risk,” the report said.
As part of the DRIF process, the provincial government requires a council resolution confirming Vancouver’s support for the project. The province expects to confirm successful applicants by March 31.
Climate change strategy
Council is likely to approve the request, considering the series of moves council made in 2024 that relate to fighting climate change, including approving the city’s climate change adaptation strategy.
Council also requested the provincial government amend the Vancouver Charter to allow for enactment of bylaws requiring buildings to maintain a maximum indoor air temperature to improve safety of residents during heat events.
The $215,000 would be spent to:
• Create a mapping tool to identify which multifamily buildings in Vancouver are more exposed to high temperatures and where residents who are most vulnerable to extreme heat live.
• Use the mapping tool to identify four to six multifamily building types that experts will evaluate to confirm the causes of overheating and retrofit barriers.
• Develop solutions to make multifamily buildings safer in future extreme heat events. The solutions will include both mechanical and passive cooling approaches.
• Identify options to implement those solutions.
• Fund all consulting costs required to undertake the project.
Heat dome
The 2021 heat dome event saw record-breaking temperatures that resulted in 619 heat-related deaths across B.C., with 117 deaths occurring in Vancouver. Of those deaths, 98 per cent occurred indoors.
A total of 40 per cent of the deaths occurred in private homes in multifamily buildings, and most people who died were in homes without adequate cooling systems, according to the report.
“This was B.C.’s deadliest environmental disaster to date and highlighted the dangers of prolonged exposure to hot indoor environments to health and well-being,” the report said.
Many deaths occurred in the Downtown Eastside.
Recent research confirms that exposure to higher temperatures creates stress on the human body that accumulates and leads to heat-related illnesses and mortality, especially for adults 60 and over.
Also susceptible are people with chronic disease, people experiencing mental illness, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, people with limited mobility, people who are pregnant, infants and young children.
'Longer heatwaves'
Climate projections show that compared to the 1990s, Vancouver can expect three times as many days over 25°C (42 days annually) and nine times as many days over 30°C (nine days annually) by the 2050s, “and more frequent and longer heatwaves which increase overall extreme heat risks for residents,” the report said.
The city’s “hazard, risk and vulnerability analysis” completed in 2024 outlined the impact of various hazards on people, the environment, economy and infrastructure.
The analysis identified extreme heat as one of two highest risk hazards to Vancouver.
The analysis, along with staff’s work on the climate change adaptation strategy, identified “disproportionate impacts and inequities” in the experience of extreme heat. Staff also concluded the work to retrofit existing buildings “is complex, intersecting with affordability and other key urban challenges.”
X/@Howellings
