Updating Health Canada’s Heat-Health Messages for the Environment and Climate Change Canada Heat Warning System: A Collaboration with Canadian Experts

It is critical to inform the public of the threat heat poses to health and provide actionable guidance on mitigating this risk before, during, and after heat events. To help educate the public during heat events, Health Canada works closely with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to distribute heat-health messaging through a weather warning system. However, the warning system’s current list of messages dates back over a decade. Continually evaluating and updating messages is critical to ensure they are based on the best evidence available. A review was conducted to assess the existing heat-health messages and propose new messages based on recent empirical studies. The proposed messages were reviewed to ensure that readability and equity considerations were integrated. Academic, public health and meteorology experts across Canada reviewed the proposed messages and applied further revisions. The original list of heat-health messages included 12 messages. Based on the evidence and external reviews provided by 42 experts (academic: n = 9; public health: n = 22; meteorology: n = 11), messages were removed, merged, added and revised. The final list used by ECCC includes 30 messages. Health Canada’s heat-health messages disseminated through ECCC’s weather warning system were revised to ensure they are important, action-oriented, evidence-based, readable, equitable, regionally applicable, and timely. Ensuring these messages reflect current knowledge will be an ongoing and iterative process to support the public’s preparedness efforts to protect themselves and others during heat events.