Heat warnings blanket much of the province and are expected to continue over the next few days, but despite record-breaking temperatures in some areas, no extreme heat emergencies have been declared.
However, the province has been working on a system of alerts and responses.
After nearly 600 British Columbians died as a direct result of last year’s heat dome — in what is considered Canada’s deadliest weather event on record — it created a committee to plan for future extreme hot weather.
The B.C. Health Effects of Anomalous Temperatures Coordinating Committee (B.C. HEAT Committee) was established in January 2022 and brought together several provincial agencies, including the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, the Ministry of Health and Health Emergency Management.
That committee developed a two-tiered heat alert response system for extreme heat events: heat warning and extreme heat emergency.
