Beat the Heat
With a heat event anticipated this Sunday and into early next week, we are reminding you of Ottawa Public Health, Community and Social Services, and the City’s coordinated response to support residents and visitors during extreme heat. Please find linked here, our Heat Memo to Council, which outlines the services activated during heat events.
Hot weather assistance to people experiencing homelessness
- The City of Ottawa’s Community Engagement Team along with community partners such as the Salvation Army provide outreach services. These services offer system navigation support and the distribution of resources—such as water—to priority populations, including individuals experiencing homelessness.
- Shelters (e.g., The Ottawa Mission, The Salvation Army Ottawa Booth Centre, The Youth Services Bureau) provide access during extreme weather events to those who want to come indoors.
- The Salvation Army Outreach Van is currently operating 24/7 to connect with unsheltered individuals and bring them to safe shelter or to provide vital supplies.
- Day programs funded by the City of Ottawa can offer a safe space during extreme weather events and some have recently extended their hours, offering evening and/or overnight supports to those in need.
- 2-1-1 helps connect residents with information on programs and services to cool down, such as cool places and day programs where everyone is welcome.
- 3-1-1 provides residents with information on programs and services to cool down, and how to access community shelters.
- 9-1-1 should be called immediately if someone’s health or safety is at risk due to extreme heat or related concerns.
Key reminders:
- Residents can access cooling locations across the city — including libraries, community centres, beaches, swimming pools and splash pads — which are listed on OPH’s interactive Places to Cool Off map. When a heat event is declared by Environment Canada, the City’s Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services will remove some lanes to accommodate public swimmers during scheduled lane swims.
- For information on available services, concerned or impacted residents are encouraged to call 3-1-1. For medical emergency assistance such as heat stroke, call 9-1-1. Residents can call 8-1-1 Health Connect Ontario for non-emergency medical advice.
- OPH updates information on its Extreme Heat and Humidity webpage with current information on services to help people stay cool and on ways to prevent heat-related health impacts, such as dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and sunburn.
Information and resources:
- Beat the heat fact sheet available in English, French, Arabic, Somali, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Nepali, and Punjabi, helps to explain the risks of extreme heat, and provides recommendations on how to think ahead and plan for ways to stay cool.
- The OPH Extreme Heat and Humidity webpage provides information about preventing heat-related illness, such as dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and includes links to resources in our community to help people find emergency shelter (including transportation to shelter). There are also new posters on cost-effective heat protection for apartments/condos and homes.
- The webpage also has an interactive map of places to cool off, including City of Ottawa-operated pools, splash pads, libraries, shade structures, parks, and more. These are places throughout the City where the public is welcome to seek access to air conditioning during regular business hours and access is free of charge. The map also includes locations of publicly accessible drinking water fountains. Locations included on the map are validated at the beginning of the season.
- Residents can call 2-1-1, the Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario, to obtain information about services and locations of drop-in centres, community and health resource centres, food banks and community food programs and financial assistance for their utilities. The “Find Your Way Community Resource Guide” provides contact information for services such as shelters and drop-in centres.
- Residents can call 3-1-1 Client Services for information on programs and services to cool down, and how to access community shelters.
- Printable posters are available from Health Canada on ways to protect you and loved ones during an extreme heat event.
- The OPH Outdoor Air Pollution webpage provides information about the Air Quality Health Index, health effects associated with air pollution and ways to reduce exposure to poor air quality.
Water Safety
Summer has almost arrived which means pools, beaches and water parks are now or will soon be open. Swimming is a great way for you and your family to stay active and have fun. There are many things you can do to help keep you and your family safe in and around water.
Did you know that drowning is fast and silent and can happen in as little as a few centimetres of water? Prevention is the key!
Here are some important water safety tips to keep you and your family safe in and around the water this summer:
- Always keep children within arms' reach, in and around the water. Never leave a child alone, whether it is in the bathtub, a swimming pool or any body of water such as rivers or lakes.
- Ensure children and weaker swimmers wear properly fitted lifejackets or personal flotation devices (PFD) in and around the water.
- Don’t swim alone. Always swim with others who know how to swim.
- Stay sober. Do not use alcohol, cannabis or drugs when swimming or supervising others in the water.
- Keep safety equipment and a phone close to the pool.
- Ensure that your backyard pool is not accessible to children by using multiple layers of protection (e.g.: fences, self-closing gates)
- Where lifeguard supervision is available, swim in areas where lifeguards are on duty. One percent of fatal drownings in Ontario occur in lifeguarded settings.
- Be aware of the conditions where you swim. Watch for currents and changes in the lake or river bottom.
- Make sure you and your family members learn to swim. Swimming is a life skill that lasts a lifetime.
For more information on staying safe in and around water and a water safety resource available in nine languages, please visit: OPH Water Safety
