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Urban communities


In Canada, roughly 60% of the population lives in urban areas of 100,000 people or more and about 80% in urban areas of 10,000 or more. (1)

Some of the potential impacts on prairie cities include (2)

  • longer summer recreational season and shorter winter season
  • increased heat stress and decreased air quality
  • increased demand for air conditioning but reduced winter heating demand
  • decreased need for snow removal
  • invasion of new insects and diseases


Given all these potential impacts, almost all city “departments” will be affected by climate change (3) including

  • transportation
  • parks and recreation
  • water and sewage
  • energy use
  • garbage collection
  • snow and ice control
  • pest control
  • horticulture
  • human safety
  • construction and building codes
  • hazards (blizzards, wind storms, cold and hot spells, fires)


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Infrastructure impacts


“Cities have become increasingly dependent on their lifelines, including transportation systems (e.g., air, water, road and rail) that move people and goods; water and electric power supply systems; and sewers and waste removal systems. All of these elements have become essential in the modern city, making them points of vulnerability.” (4)“Due to climate change Canada’s infrastructure is increasingly forced to withstand more frequent and extreme weather events, more climate variability, and changes in climate norms.” (5) Some examples of the impact of climate change on urban infrastructure include (6):

  • Asphalt, concrete and other hard surfaces in the city absorb radiation from the sun, causing the urban heat island effect, which exacerbates heat waves and puts pressure on electricity generation and distribution systems.
  • Combined sewers that carry both stormwater and sewage are common in many city centres. Protracted or intense precipitation leads to overflows in these sewer systems, washing untreated pollutants into local water bodies.
  • Centralized power sources, longer distribution lines, and an increasingly interconnected grid increases vulnerability to blackouts when electricity demands are high – during heat waves, for example – and when storms occur. The impact of blackouts has also grown as homes and businesses have become more dependent on electronic control and communication systems.


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Economic impacts


Globally, it is estimated that the overall costs of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year. According to these estimates, As the climate changes the increase in extreme weather events may double the annual costs in the coming decades and account for 10% to 20% of the total economic impact of climate change. (7) From an urban perspective many of these economic costs will incur in our cities. “The Canadian economy is inextricably linked to the health of its cities; for example, the seven largest cities in Canada generate almost 45% of the national GDP and large cities like Vancouver and Montreal account for over half of provincial GDP.” (8)

Some examples of the economic impacts of climate change include:

  • challenges to the insurance industry. “Insurance is on the front line of climate change” (9) as it is often the insurers who are responsible for putting the pieces back together after extreme weather events or in assisting businesses and farmers when longer term weather patterns affect their bottom-lines.
  • positive economic changes. “The world does not need to choose between averting climate change and promoting…Action on climate change will also create significant business opportunities, as new markets are created in low-carbon energy technologies and other low-carbon goods and services. These markets could grow to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and employment in these sectors will expand accordingly.” (10)