Ontario needs to better track heat-related deaths, advocates say

Advocates say Ontario needs to do more to prevent heat-related deaths by collecting finer statistics and honing in on living conditions where people may be more prone to suffering from extreme heat. 

But the chief coroner for Ontario says the province is focused on other methods of prevention and the dangers of hot weather are already known.  

Ottawa and other parts of Ontario experienced high temperatures last week. Peter Tilley, CEO of the Ottawa Mission, said his staff were patrolling the streets to distribute water and help homeless people stay cool.

"But what about areas where that isn't being done?" he said. 

"If we had the data to know that we could have [prevented potential deaths] over the course of the summer...then what would we have done differently?"

Data would help prevent deaths

That's what a coalition including the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) has been pressing Ontario about in recent years.

In a letter sent two summers ago, they called on the Office of the Chief Coroner to require that any deaths where heat is considered a contributing factor be reported and investigated "as is currently being done in British Columbia."

"Moreover," the letter went on, "the province should record demographic data to understand the scale of the issue and which vulnerable communities require enhanced public health measures."

Jacqueline Wilson, a lawyer for CELA, recently told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning that more precise data would better equip the federal government in its goal to eliminate all deaths related to extreme heat by the year 2040. 

"If we were to track deaths and we find, for instance, after an extreme heat event there was a cluster of deaths in a certain neighborhood, you could look into why that neighborhood was most affected," Wilson said. 

"We know, for instance, there is a correlation between low urban tree cover and income levels ... We could be targeting those apartments for active cooling and making sure everyone has access to heat pumps or air conditioning."

Province responds

In his own interview with Ottawa Morning on Monday, Dirk Huyer, chief coroner for Ontario, said the province should focus on other prevention efforts "as opposed to counting and determining the potential involvement of heat in those situations." 

He said the latter approach would be time-consuming and potentially take time away from investigations into other areas such as opioid toxicity. 

"We have to think about ... areas that we don't actually have good understanding of. And we do have good understanding about heat-related deaths," Huyer said. 

While people in Ontario are not reporting situations where a natural death occurred with heat as a possible contributing factor, he said, "we do investigate deaths where heat may have been a direct factor or a significant contributing factor."

When there's a cluster of deaths in one area, "we'd be involved," Huyer said. The same goes for if someone died in their home.

Since heat conditions vary across the province, local public health units are best positioned to use "early warning systems," he said.