Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: Extreme heat contributes significantly to illness and death in Canada. Public health actors play an important role in identifying and reducing the negative health impacts of extreme heat, and, in doing so, often need to collaborate with other sectors, such as emergency management and response. Our research identifies and analyzes how such collaborations are supported by existing governance arrangements - that is, formal and informal rules, practices and relationships. Methods: We reviewed a range of literature regarding extreme heat response in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec. We then interviewed 28 actors involved in heat response efforts in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. We compared key similarities and differences between these three cities. Results: in each city, extreme heat response is guided by a formal protocol and overseen by public health and emergency management divisions. However, formal evaluations of response efforts are rare; instead, actors typically self-monitor their work. Whereas heat response in Montreal involves several sectors working in collaboration, actors in Toronto and Vancouver appear less aware of how various sectors contribute to heat response as a whole. Overall, collaborative governance entails clearly defined roles and responsibilities, partner trust and consensus, and adaptability. Conclusions: there exists a notable gap in academic research related to collaborative climate governance. Future heat response efforts may be strengthened through formal evaluation and community engagement.