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←Economic and Community Development Committee · 2022-01-21 · 2022.EC27.8

The filed record

Review of Guidelines for the Opening of City of Toronto Emergency Cooling Centres

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The decision

2022-01-21 · Economic and Community Development Committee · amended

As filed

The Economic and Community Development Committee: 1. Requested the City Manager, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Management and, as needed, Toronto Public Health, to consider operating emergency cooling centres in 2022 as part of the City of Toronto's Heat Relief Strategy, subject to current public health advice and guidance, and to review historical usage data to inform which locations are warranted. 2. Requested the Fire Chief and General Manager - Emergency Management, Toronto Fire Services, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health and relevant City divisions, to report back to the Economic and Community Development Committee in the second quarter of 2022 on an enhanced Emergency Cooling Centres System which includes the following: a.

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how cooling centres can address inclement weather, heavy rainfall and flooding; and b. clear guidelines for staff responsibility and implementation.

The vote

Amend Item · Carried, 5-1

For (5)Cynthia Lai, Joe Cressy, Mark Grimes, Michael Ford, Michael Thompson
Against (1)Shelley Carroll
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On the agenda

As the city filed it

On October 1 and 4, 2021, City Council directed the City Manager, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Toronto Public Health (TPH), to review the guidelines currently in place to determine the opening of cooling centres across the City of Toronto. This report responds to this direction. Heat warnings are issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) when two or more consecutive days of daytime maximum temperatures are expected to reach 31 degrees Celsius or warmer and nighttime minimum temperatures are expected to fall to 20 degrees Celsius or warmer, or when two or more consecutive days of humidex values are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius or higher.

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Since 2019, the approach to managing heat relief has been completed in accordance with the City's Heat Relief Strategy, which uses a network of 270 locations across Toronto to provide the City's residents with access to space to stay cool when a heat warning is issued. This network has replaced the previously used cooling centres in an effort to make access to these facilities increasingly accessible. During the summers of 2020 and 2021, the OEM, through the Emergency Operations Centre, opened cooling centres on an emergency basis for individuals in the City to access relief from the heat. These cooling centres were opened upon declaration of a heat warning by ECCC. This report provides an update on the City's guidelines for determining the opening of cooling centres.

Staff recommended

The Acting Fire Chief and General Manager - Emergency Management, Toronto Fire Services recommends that: 1. The Economic and Community Development Committee receive this report for information.

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