Ontario is currently experiencing its worst wildfire season in history and the impacts have been alarming. Wildfire smoke has blanketed the province, degraded air quality, disrupted daily life and forced people indoors.
Those most affected are often the people with the fewest resources to cope. In northern Ontario, communities, most of them First Nations, have been forced to leave their homes to escape harm. Homes and local ecosystems have been destroyed. In urban areas, people remained indoors to avoid exposure to some of the worst air quality in the world.
This reality highlights the potential disruptions caused by climate emergencies. In a matter of days, people can lose their homes, jobs, access to transportation and the resources they rely on to meet their basic needs. As climate change drives more frequent and severe emergencies, these disruptions will become increasingly common. The impacts extend far beyond the immediate danger, creating lasting health, social and economic challenges for individuals, families and communities.
Preparing for the next emergency means investing in the conditions that help people stay healthy and resilient long before a crisis begins.
While the tangible effects may be less evident in places like the GTA compared to communities directly under wildfire threat, these emergencies reveal and amplify existing inequities across the province, particularly when it comes to health outcomes.
The rates of respiratory illnesses like asthma – as well as how people experience them – are impacted by social determinants of health. As an example, individuals living in lowest-income neighbourhoods and households with lower rates of education experience higher rates of avoidable hospitalization due to asthma. Climate emergencies, including wildfire smoke and extreme heat, worsen health conditions and exacerbate these inequities.
Prolonged exposure to smoke can aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, while limited access to housing and health services further increases health risks. For people experiencing homelessness, following public health advice to stay indoors is often impossible when shelters are full and there is no safe, clean indoor space to escape hazardous air. Older adults in precarious housing situations face greater risks if they lack air conditioning, mobility supports or access to cooling spaces. Outdoor workers, such as migrant farm workers (many of whom are racialized), often have little choice but to continue working despite poor air quality. As governments continue to fall short of meeting climate commitments and climate emergencies become more frequent and intense, these inequities are likely to deepen.
Policies are needed to better protect those most impacted by emergencies like the recent wildfires. When people lose income, incur unexpected expenses, or are displaced from their homes, recovery depends in part on whether social programs are responsive to the needs of those with the fewest protections.
Climate change is reshaping what emergency preparedness means.
Wellesley’s recent work analyzing provincial governments’ design of household-level monetary benefits as a response to two separate emergencies – extreme heat and COVID-19 – highlights common gaps in existing benefit systems that are often fragmented, narrowly targeted, or difficult to access.
These findings suggest that emergency preparedness cannot rely on disaster-specific responses alone, because different emergencies produce similar social and economic vulnerabilities. Preparing for future emergencies requires a social safety net which protects against health inequities, is flexible enough to respond to different types of emergencies and ensures supports reach those who need them most.
Building resilience is not only about responding to disasters – it is about ensuring that everyone has the resources to weather them.