The City of Vancouver has ceased funding for a program that helped vulnerable populations stay safe during extreme heat.
Since 2022, the City has distributed cool kits to help people mitigate the effects of hot weather and polluted air over the summer months. They did this by supplying the kits to community organizations, who would then give them to Vancouverites who needed them.
These cool kits were designed to support some of Vancouver’s most vulnerable residents during extreme heat events. They contained things like a water bottle, a spray bottle, a cooling blanket, gel packs, an indoor thermometer, and more.
Further, the City was also distributing DIY air filters to help people have clean air in their homes when air quality was low, due to things like wildfire smoke, which can affect people’s health even at low concentrations.
On its website, the City recommends reducing the “amount of time breathing in wildfire smoke,” including by spending time in spaces with air filtration (like specific community centres and library branches).
Nicole Mucci, the media communications manager at Union Gospel Mission (UGM), said they distributed cool kits in the Downtown Eastside as part of their effort to support the community.
Mucci said the City sent them and other community partners an email in late January, sharing that the City was “facing significant budget changes for 2026 and as a result, the funding for the cool kits and the air cleaner programs had been cut.”
This followed City Council passing a budget with a zero per cent property tax increase in 2026, which has since resulted in staff layoffs and program cuts.
When Daily Hive asked the City of Vancouver why they stopped this funding, they responded with an emailed statement that said: “The City continues to implement operational changes that focus on delivering municipal services – such as cooling centres and safety information – within available resources.”
The City said they are “no longer directly distributing personal household items through community organizations” but will provide information and guidance on hot weather preparation, including on creating cool kits and DIY air cleaners.
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Lucy Maloney, a City of Vancouver councillor with OneCity, told Daily Hive that she’s concerned about what will happen this summer, given that it’s projected to be one of the hottest years on record.
“In the years since the heat dome, some of this sense of urgency has been lost about this issue,” she said.
Why was this initiative needed?
The cool kits distribution followed the 2021 deadly heat dome in B.C., where temperatures hit 40°C in many parts of B.C., and high indoor temperatures were the main cause of injury and death. A report from the British Columbia Coroners Service found that 619 people died due to heat-related causes. Vancouver had the highest number of heat-related deaths, at 117.
Risk factors for death during the heat dome included old age, isolation, poverty, mental illness, pre-existing illness, and drug use. People with financial privilege, proximity to green space, and access to healthcare had better outcomes.
Mucci said that unhoused people and people with addiction are “extraordinarily vulnerable” to extreme heat, as they typically have a lower immune system and less ability to deal with fluctuations in body temperature.
“If you’re experiencing homelessness, unless you are able to enter a cooling center that is opened up, or access a third space, like a library, where there is that cooler air, you’re actually much more susceptible to heat stroke, heat exhaustion, to sunburn, to dehydration,” she said.
“All of those things that might make someone ill generally could actually become deadly when you navigate the comorbidities or the concurrent disorders that people who are experiencing homelessness face.”
According to UBC’s Climate Equity, Action, and Resilience (CLEAR) project, DTES residents valued the cool kits, especially when they could pick and choose what they needed.
“Having access to items that are easy to use, very affordable and can cool you down can save your life,” said Kathleen Leahy, the director of the UBC Learning Exchange (which runs the CLEAR project).
She also emphasized the importance of preparation in advance of a heat emergency.
“If you wait just for the event itself, you can have people die on the first day of an event.”
What are organizations doing now?
Mucci said that UGM has “navigated” hot summers in the DTES for many years and has programming in place. In advance of a heat wave, they outreach teams to the Downtown Eastside to check in, inform people about the upcoming heat, and ensure they have sunscreen, hats, and access to cooling areas.
Often, during extreme heat events, they extend the hours of their drop-in centre for people to have access to a cool space, as well as distribute freezies.
The City of Vancouver said it will focus on activating and promoting civic facilities as cool centres during heat events and improve access to water, misters, and other cooling infrastructure.
Here is a map of free places to cool off and hydrate around Vancouver.