13 Ontario communities projected to have most extreme heat in the future

Ontario is no stranger to extreme heat, and a new report shows that a number of Ontario cities are going to be some of the hottest spots in the country.

A new report, by experts at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaption at the University of Waterloo, suggests that 13 communities in Ontario will suffer from extreme heat the most in the future.

The report, “Irreversible Extreme Heat: Protecting Canadians and Communities From a Lethal Future,” focuses on the urgent need to address climate change. The report looks at how Canadians, businesses and politicians can address a future of untenable heat.

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More specifically, the report looks at the impact of extreme heat between the years of 2051 and 2080.

“It should be noted that climate projections are subject to significant uncertainty, and future conditions will depend on the actions taken to reduce greenhouse gases and slow climate change,” the report reads.

Part of the report focuses on communities that could face the most extreme heat in the country between 2051 and 2080. There are 13 different cities and towns that make the list in Ontario. All of them are in Southern Ontario.

The report focuses on three main indicators of extreme heat:

Very hot days over 30°C
Warmest maximum temperature
Average heat-wave length

Based on these indicators, the report said that extreme heat will have the most impact in three areas: “low-lying areas from the West Coast to the Rocky Mountains (British Columbia), the Prairies bordering the United States (southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) and north of Lake Erie through the St. Lawrence River Valley (southern Ontario and Quebec).”

Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation

These are the Ontario regions that could see the most extreme heat:

Toronto
Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge
Belleville
Kingston
London
Hamilton
Brantford
Sarnia
Ottawa
Niagara Falls – St. Catharines
Windsor
Chatham
Leamington