As climate change accelerates, Canada is confronting a pressing and underrecognized public health challenge: the vulnerability of children to extreme heat in educational and childcare environments. A coalition of experts spanning health, education, law, and environmental science is issuing an urgent call for comprehensive action to adapt schools and childcare facilities to rising temperatures. With projections from Environment and Climate Change Canada indicating that 2025 could rival or exceed the record-breaking heat experienced in 2024, the imperative to address indoor and outdoor heat exposure where children spend their formative years has never been greater.
The physiological dangers posed by extreme heat are well-documented yet insufficiently mitigated in many Canadian learning settings. Children’s thermoregulatory systems operate differently from adults’. Their bodies generate more heat during activity but have a reduced capacity to cool themselves through sweating, making them exceptionally susceptible to heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke and exhaustion. Compounding this vulnerability, children tend to dehydrate more rapidly, and their limited ability to communicate discomfort places heightened responsibility on caregivers and educators to detect and respond to early signs of overheating.
Beyond acute health concerns, the cognitive and psychosocial repercussions of sustained exposure to elevated temperatures in classrooms and playgrounds merit serious consideration. Empirical research reveals that overheated educational environments undermine students’ attentional capacity, memory retention, and emotional regulation, directly impairing learning outcomes. For instance, a study in the United States quantified the impact of even modest increases in ambient temperature on academic performance, linking a one-degree Fahrenheit rise over a school year to a one percent reduction in learning. Such findings underscore heat exposure as a subtle but formidable barrier to educational equity and opportunity.
This crisis exhibits a pronounced socio-environmental gradient, disproportionately afflicting children in under-resourced communities. These populations often reside in areas with scant green space, higher urban density, and limited access to air conditioning both at home and in schools. Indigenous communities, particularly those on First Nations lands, confront compounded vulnerabilities due to systemic underfunding of infrastructure. Many schools and childcare centers in these regions operate without adequate cooling systems or protections against extreme weather events, exacerbating longstanding inequities and raising critical environmental justice concerns.
Canadian educational infrastructure broadly lags behind climatic realities that increasingly demand resilient design and adaptation. Studies show that a large proportion of schools, especially in provinces like Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, lack sufficient mechanical cooling. In some urban areas, such as Toronto, reports indicate that fewer than a third of schools possess central air conditioning. During heat waves, indoor classroom temperatures can soar significantly above the WHO-recommended maximum of 26°C, a threshold intended to safeguard vulnerable populations, including children. This figure is based on adult tolerances but serves as a crucial benchmark for indoor environmental quality.
Further complicating matters is the thermal behavior of outdoor play spaces. Surfaces like asphalt and artificial turf absorb and retain heat, often producing surface temperatures that exceed ambient air temperatures substantially. Investigations in other hot climates, such as Arizona, reveal that school playgrounds frequently register the highest heat levels in immediate environments. Shading and vegetative cover, which mitigate radiant heat exposure and provide thermal comfort, are glaringly deficient in many schools serving marginalized communities. Additionally, the increased prevalence of artificial turf introduces chemical and microplastic-related health risks, compounding environmental challenges.
The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE) emphasize that climate change impacts on youth health necessitate a multidimensional policy response. Key among this is establishing and enforcing enforceable temperature standards for indoor settings, anchored by a maximum indoor temperature ceiling of 26°C. This measure demands significant investment in mechanical cooling infrastructure, preferably utilizing energy-efficient, low-carbon technologies such as heat pumps. Complementary building upgrades aimed at insulation, cool roofing, and ventilation optimization must also be financed and prioritized.
Passive cooling strategies and behavioral interventions represent vital components of the heat mitigation arsenal. Effective use of window shading, minimizing heat-generating electronics during peak temperature periods, and educating school staff and caregivers about heat response protocols can attenuate indoor heat load without excessive energy consumption. However, successful deployment of these measures hinges on comprehensive training, clear guidelines, and sustained resource allocation to school boards and childcare providers.
Robust data collection and temperature monitoring are critical to understanding heat impacts and tailoring interventions. Systematic measurement of indoor temperatures, coupled with health surveillance focusing on heat-related illnesses and absenteeism, can illuminate patterns and guide policy refinement. Equally important are transparent heat response plans that detail preventive and emergency measures, communicated effectively to all educational stakeholders.
The infrastructure challenges faced by Indigenous schools and childcare centers are among the most acute in the country. Overcrowding, aging buildings, and insufficient federal funding—covering only a fraction of capital needs—have left many facilities ill-equipped to confront rising temperatures and associated health risks. Current estimates indicate over 200 First Nations schools require expansions, and at least 56 must be replaced entirely. Federal engagement in partnership with Indigenous leadership is crucial to co-develop climate-resilient strategies that address extreme heat and other environmental hazards.
Voices from the public health, academic, and advocacy communities uniformly emphasize the urgency of this issue. Dr. Glen Kenny, a leading expert in human and environmental physiology, highlights the documented physiological harms of indoor overheating and underscores the necessity of maintaining indoor environments below 26°C to protect vulnerable groups. Advocacy organizations and health agencies stress that equitable solutions must extend beyond cooling educational spaces to encompass children’s homes and neighborhoods, recognizing the layered nature of heat exposure and its health ramifications.
The stakes extend beyond climate adaptation into realms of social justice and educational equity. Without concerted intervention, children in disadvantaged communities are poised to bear disproportionate burdens of illness, learning disruption, and diminished developmental opportunity. The intersection of environmental exposures, systemic underfunding, and infrastructural deficits coalesces to perpetuate inequities in health and education outcomes.
In synthesizing the scientific evidence and socio-legal analyses, the collective call to action from CPCHE, CELA, and allied partners embodies a holistic framework for safeguarding child health amid escalating climate threats. It advocates for leveraging technological innovation, infrastructure renewal, environmental design, policy reform, and community engagement to create learning environments resilient to heat. This approach aligns with broader imperatives for sustainable development and climate justice.
As extreme heat events are projected to increase in frequency, intensity, and duration in the coming decades, the window for implementing these measures narrows. The climate crisis is reshaping childhood experiences in Canada, demanding proactive, equitable, and science-informed responses. Ensuring that educational spaces provide thermal comfort and safety is not merely a matter of infrastructure but a foundational component of protecting children’s right to health, education, and well-being in a warming world.
Subject of Research:
The impact of extreme heat on children’s health and learning environments in Canadian schools and childcare settings, and the requisite adaptation strategies to mitigate associated risks amid climate change.
Article Title:
Canada’s Children at Risk: The Urgent Need to Cool Schools in a Warming Climate
News Publication Date:
Not specified in the source content.
Web References:
– Environment and Climate Change Canada heat predictions: https://climatedata.ca/2025-forecasted-to-rival-2024-for-record-breaking-heat/
References:
Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE), Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) collective call for action and related technical reports.
Image Credits:
Credit to CPCHE as noted in the source content.
Keywords:
Extreme heat, climate change, children’s health, schools, childcare, indoor temperature standards, Canada, heat-related illness, educational equity, climate adaptation, Indigenous communities, environmental justice
