'Canada is not immune': Why B.C. residents' anxiety over climate change is spiking

Canadians are more worried than ever about climate change, and according to a recent study by Statistics Canada, British Columbians are among the most stressed out.

Canada’s national statistics agency released its latest Insights on Canadian Society study this week. It found that over half of Canadians are “very” or “extremely concerned about climate change.

Near the top of the list are British Columbians, with over 55 per cent of residents who feel a high level of concern.

According to StatCan, researchers have discovered that climate-related hazards in the country and around the world can have a major impact on mental health.

Some Canadians may even experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or anxiety.

“Climate change is a global phenomenon, and each of the last three decades has been successively warmer than any previous decade since the 1850s,” wrote StatCan in the introduction to its study, Feeling the heat: More than half of Canadians are highly concerned about climate change.

“Canada is not immune to these changes—in fact, its rate of warming is about twice the global rate, and its Arctic regions are warming even faster.”

B.C. residents are the fourth most stressed out when it comes to the topic of climate change, closely following behind people living in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island.

However, over a third of British Columbians report being stressed about climate change at least once a month, which is higher than the national average and the second-highest percentage in the country.

“Although data are scarce, some research suggests that youth and young adults are more vulnerable to these psychological effects because they are likely to be disproportionately affected by future climate disruption,” explained StatCan.

“The country has already seen more frequent and severe heat waves and wildfires, fewer cold spells, thawing permafrost, and increased precipitation in recent decades, among other changes.”

While the temperature in Vancouver might currently be seasonal, it was only five years ago that B.C. underwent an unprecedented, deadly heat dome.

From June 25 to July 1, 2021, B.C. experienced temperatures it had never seen before.

The heat dome resulted in 619 deaths across B.C., making it the deadliest weather event in its history. According to scientists from the World Weather Attribution, it would have been “virtually impossible without human-caused climate change.”

Vancouver was the city hardest hit, with 117 of those deaths occurring within its city limits.

Analysis from Climate Central found that B.C.’s temperature was on average 1.9°C warmer than normal for 38 days this past winter.

The organization uses their climate shift index, looking at two sets of temperature data between December 2025 and February 2026. One is real-world data; the other is a climate model without human-caused emissions of heat-trapping gases.

“It’s likely that at least part of that was due to climate change,” said Kristina Dahl, Climate Central’s vice-president for science.

And this spring, a 128-year-old heat record was broken in Vancouver.

Vancouver hit a daily maximum temperature record on May 4 of 23.9°C.

The previous record for the date was only 22.2°C, a difference of over 1.7°C. Records for the area have been kept since 1896.

With files from Hanna Hett and Daily Hive staff.