As Vancouver's temperatures soar, DTES residents are among the most at risk
Vancouver is currently experiencing one of its hottest and smokiest days of 2026 so far, and the heat is unlikely to affect everyone equally.
In the Downtown Eastside, residents face the most exposure and greater risk from the heat. Before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, it already felt hot in the direct sun, and the air had a slight golden hue as wildfire smoke travels into the city from other parts of B.C.
According to Environment Canada, temperatures are spiking for the next 48 hours, reaching up to 32°C inland and making things feel up to 38°C inland with the humidex on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Union Gospel Mission (UGM), a nonprofit that provides outreach services to the DTES community, has been gearing up for this stretch of hot weather.
While the organization normally conducts numerous outreach walks in the neighbourhood each day, they increase the amount on hot days, while also handing out items to keep people cool and informing them of the expected temperatures and where they can find cool spaces.
It’s especially important along the East Hastings corridor, where there’s little in terms of green space, trees, and shade overall. The sidewalks, roads, and even the buildings hold onto the heat from the sun and radiate it out.
Compared to other parts of Vancouver that have more parks and trees, it can feel up to five to 10°C hotter in the DTES. This is because green spaces like trees not only provide shade and slow heat absorption, but also release moisture into the air through their leaves.
“If it’s going to be 32 today at our highest, it could actually be closer to 37 to 40 degrees in those areas because there’s nothing absorbing the heat,” said Nicole Mucci, UGM’s manager of media relations and communications.
David Naylor and Clement Boaz, UGM outreach workers. (Hanna Hett/Daily Hive)
Residents of the DTES are often more vulnerable to the effects of hot weather. Mucci said that people experiencing homelessness already have a “diminished immune system,” and it is harder for their bodies to cool down.
Further, she said that they often notice a spike in overdoses in extreme heat, because people experiencing addiction might already be facing overlapping health conditions. For example, hot temperatures can create more physiological stress, increase dehydration, and cause a faster heart rate.
If someone is using substances, it can mask symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (like not realizing if they’ve stopped sweating, a symptom of heat stroke).
If a person uses opioids, it causes respiratory depression, meaning that their heart rate and breathing slow down. Extreme heat can put a “huge demand” on people’s respiratory system, causing additional risk.
“The stacking of comorbidities makes [heat] significantly more dangerous,” said Mucci.
Going on outreach walks
Just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday, two UGM outreach workers, David Naylor and Clement Boaz, push a trolley past the UGM buildings. It is loaded with one canister of iced coffee and one with lemonade, as well as freezies, packets of sunscreen, and hats.
As they hand out the drinks and supplies, they tell people that the weather will be hot today. They also check in to make sure people have some place to go.
People are appreciative of the work, with many people taking hats and drinks.
“Thanks for the juice, man!” someone says.
The outreach workers don’t make it very far down the block before they have to turn back and start over. But this is part of the reason that they’ll head out multiple times today, to widen their total reach.
Where do they get their supplies?
While the City of Vancouver cut funding from its cool kit program this year, which contained things like a water bottle, a spray bottle, a cooling blanket, gel packs, an indoor thermometer, Mucci said that they managed to partner with the Vancity Community Foundation and Simon Fraser University through a project called Climate Resilience Roadmap, getting the supplies they need to help cool people down during hot weather.
Hanna Hett/Daily Hive
If someone comes into UGM’s drop-in centre, the charity has cool clothes they can take, cold packs, and other supplies like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, sunscreen, hats, socks, and tampons.
What about the air quality?
While the Metro Vancouver Regional District hasn’t issued an air quality warning for the region (though it has for the Eastern Fraser Valley), it’s said that it’s possible if conditions worsen.
Mucci said that if they receive a warning, UGM will work hard to extend their outreach drop-in center for longer, based on their staffing availability.
“But at that point, that’s also when we’re really hoping for additional cooling centers and those like safe third spaces through the city to be opened up to ensure that people have somewhere safe,” she said.
Poor air quality is another health concern that is especially harmful for unhoused people who don’t have somewhere cool to sleep, since they are outside all the time and consistently exposed to the poor air.
Official statements tend to advise people to avoid spending time outside, a challenge for people without a home.
“You can’t always eliminate your time outside if you’re experiencing homelessness,” said Mucci.
Thus, UGM’s outreach teams will advise people about poor air quality, advise them that their drop-in centre is open, and ask them if they’re planning to sleep outside. If they say yes, they ask why.
Nicole Mucci on a UGM outreach walk. (Hanna Hett/Daily Hive)
“And then we try to understand. And if they’re like, ‘Oh, because I don’t know where shelters are.’ We’ll do our very best to walk through [that]. ‘Here are the list of available shelters. Come stay at our shelter.'”
However, Mucci said a lot of people choose not to stay in shelters in the summer because they don’t feel safe. In that case, UGM encourages people to find safe community spaces to spend some time in. And if they don’t go into a shelter overnight, they encourage them to pay attention to their breathing and respiratory system and to seek medical help if any symptoms are occurring.
The City of Vancouver provides a number of cooling centres, which include libraries, community centres, and community partner centres.
With files from Daniel Chai