Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action

Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action is the national assessment of how and why Canada’s climate is changing; the impacts of these changes on our communities, environment and economy; and how we’re adapting across the country. Led by Natural Resources Canada, these user-friendly, online reports enable Canadians to learn about the climate change impacts they’re facing, make sound decisions and take action to adapt.

Featured reports

Explore interactive versions of all the reports at ChangingClimate.ca. View or download the following reports in full or by chapter. You can also explore case studies from the reports through the interactive Map of Adaptation Actions.

Available now

Coming soon

Indigenous stand-alone report (title to be confirmed) (2024)
Co-led by Graeme Reed, Senior Policy Advisor at the Assembly of First Nations, and Shari Fox, Research Scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center of the University of Colorado Boulder, this report will draw on Indigenous knowledge, perspectives and experiences. It will explore multidimensional and intersecting aspects of climate change impacts and adaptation.

Canada in a Changing Climate: Synthesis Report (Led by Natural Resources Canada, 2023)
This report will draw from, and provide added value to, the findings of all the other reports. Led by Natural Resources Canada, this report will be released in 2023.

Previously published

You can also view or download past reports in the GEOSCAN database. They include discussions of regional and sectoral perspectives on climate change impacts in Canada as well as vulnerabilities and adaptation measures.

The National Assessment Process

The National Assessment Process is led by Natural Resources Canada, and we depend on the collaboration of a broad partnership of subject-matter experts and assessment users from all orders of government, Indigenous organizations, universities, professional and non-governmental groups, and the private sector. The public is also involved through meetings, conferences and online engagement tools. A 20-member advisory committee provides the Process with ongoing advice and input. Together, we follow a series of steps to produce each report:

Launch: We engage broadly to discuss the scope and goals of an upcoming assessment
Plan: We plan the assessment’s products (i.e., outcomes) and adjust the approach to best meet our goals
Build author teams: We invite subject matter experts to lead chapters and form writing teams that represent a range of expertise and regions in Canada
Assess: These teams gather, analyze and assess information, then draft assessment chapters
Review and scientific editing: Experts review the drafts for accuracy and completeness
Finalize: Author teams work with the Assessment Secretariat to finalize the content
Release: We translate, design and distribute the assessment products

Our teams

The Advisory Committee consists of 20 members who bring a wide range of expertise to the table. Members participate in their personal capacity as experts, not as representatives of their organizations. They offer input on the assessment’s approach and goals, the report outline, the supporting products and whom to involve. They also help communicate the final results. The Advisory Committee is led and chaired by Natural Resources Canada.

• Show me the Advisory Committee

   

  

  Gord Beal

  Gord is Vice-President of Research, Guidance and Support at Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Canada. His areas of focus include strategic financial management, financial reporting, reporting and disclosure beyond generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), auditing and other assurance, board governance and organizational oversight, risk, sustainability, performance management, information management and technology, and contemporary professional issues. He became a chartered accountant in 1990 and holds a BA in Commerce and Economics, a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Education in Organizational Learning.

   

  

  Robert Capozi

  Robert is the Adaptation Specialist with the New Brunswick Climate Change Secretariat. His role focuses on facilitating the dissemination of climate change knowledge and technical expertise to stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of creating more resilient communities, improving local economies and advancing research. Prior to the Secretariat, Rob held the positions of Coastal Lands Manager with the New Brunswick Department of Environment, Habitat Specialist with the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Wetlands Management Specialist with Ducks Unlimited Canada.

   

  

  Stewart J. Cohen

  Stewart is a senior researcher with the Climate Research Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada and an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia. Stewart was co-author of Climate Change in the 21st Century, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press. For the last 25 years, he has also been a member of author teams for several publications of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body for assessing the science related to climate change. Stewart’s IPCC work has included the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, Climate Change 2014 – Impacts, Adaptation and                                     Vulnerability.

   

  

  Ellen Curtis

  Ellen is the Director of Education for The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Over the past six years she has worked with numerous public and private organizations to develop engaging educational programs that work to advance geographic literacy in Canada. She is a passionate educator with a BA and an MA in Education from the University of Ottawa. 

   

  

  Susan Evans

  Susan is currently a Policy Advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Agri-food Climate Change Policy Unit, which is responsible for leading and coordinating the Ministry’s efforts on climate change mitigation and adaptation.  In Susan’s previous role with WWF-Canada, she provided science advice to various program areas on building climate resilient outcomes, and led the implementation of project work to demonstrate these concepts in practice. Susan holds a M.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Guelph and has actively participated in various Government of Canada science advisory processes, including as an advisor to the former National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

   

  

  Elaine Fox

  Elaine is the Manager of Climate Change Adaptation/Mitigation in the Department of Sustainable Development of the Province of Manitoba.
  Elaine draws on a broad range of knowledge and skills to provide leadership and expertise to government, stakeholders, municipalities, Indigenous organizations, business, advocates, and academia. Her applied experience in inclusiveness and collaboration work enhances an integrated legislative, regulatory and policy framework that guides sustainable development, a low carbon economy and adaptation to a changing climate future. Prior to her current role, Elaine worked as a Manager in both Strategic Policy, Sustainable Development and for the Department of Water Stewardship, Planning and Coordination.

   

  

  Pierre Gosselin

  Pierre currently works primarily at the Quebec Public Health Institute (INSPQ), where he coordinates the joint Ouranos-INSPQ research program in climate change and health. He was also in charge of the Health component of the Quebec Action Plan on Climate Change (2007-2017) and remains involved in some projects. He is also a clinical professor in preventive medicine at Université Laval and an associate at Institut national de la recherche scientifique, both in Quebec City. Pierre was trained as a physician (Université Laval) and in environmental health (University of California at Berkeley).

   

  

  Ewa Jackson

  Ewa currently works with ICLEI Canada where she has led the development of ICLEI’s Guidebook, Changing Climate Changing Communities, a compendium of resources that provides a milestone-based framework to assist local governments in the creation of adaptation plan; the guidebook was the result of a three-year process of research, collaboration and piloting with experts in the field. She has worked with municipal governments for over 16 years in the fields of sustainability, public participation and climate change. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto in environmental management and political science and is currently pursuing her MA in Environment and Business. Ewa’s particular field of interest is in the area of climate communications.

   

  

  Anne Kendrick

  Anne is a senior policy advisor for the national representational Inuit organization, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK).She provides policy guidance on Inuit rights and interests on a variety of climate change, food security, Indigenous knowledge and wildlife management topics. Before joining ITK, Anne worked for more than 15 years as an academic and practitioner on community-based resource management issues in the North. Anne has an interdisciplinary background in the natural and social sciences (BSc, biology, McGill; MA, human geography, McGill; PhD, natural resources and environmental management, Manitoba).

   

  

  Paul Kovacs

  Paul is the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) at Western University, an independent, not-for-profit centre for multi-disciplinary disaster prevention research and communications. Paul’s research interest is insurance and adaptation to climate extremes. This includes action to build communities resilient to damage from urban flooding, tornadoes, catastrophic earthquakes and interface wildfire. Since 1996, Paul has been a volunteer with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body for assessing the science related to climate change.

   

  

  David Lapp

  David currently works at Engineers Canada where, since 2005, he has led a national project to assess the engineering vulnerability of public infrastructure to the impacts of a changing climate, making presentations and giving workshops and courses across Canada, as well as internationally. This project developed the infrastructure climate risk assessment tool known as the PIEVC Protocol, which has been applied to a variety of infrastructure systems across Canada and internationally. David graduated with a degree in geological engineering from the University of Toronto in 1978. After nearly 20 years working as a consulting engineer in Canada’s Arctic region, he joined Engineers Canada in July 1997.  

   

  

  Caroline Larrivée

  Caroline leads the Vulnerabilities, Impacts and Adaptation Group at Ouranos, where she has worked since October 2006. Her previous positions there included work as a specialist in the Vulnerabilities, Impacts and Adaptation Group and as coordinator of the northern environment and urban areas programs. As an urban planner in the private sector, academic institutions and at the Kativik Regional Government, she collaborated on research into the impacts of climate change on northern communities. Caroline holds a BA in urban planning from Université de Montréal.

   

  

  Fred Lipschultz

  Fred is a Senior Scientist Contractor at the National Coordinating Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a collaboration of 13 federal agencies to build a knowledge base that informs human responses to climate and global change through coordinated and integrated Federal programs of research, education, communication and decision support. His responsibilities include coordinating all aspects of the regional climate assessment across the nation, including provision of relevant climate information and necessary coordination across the federal government. He is an oceanographer who has worked at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

   

  

  Patricia Manuel

  Patricia is the Director of the School of Planning at Dalhousie University, Halifax with additional appointments in the Dalhousie School of Occupational Therapy and the Coastal and Marine Management Program of the University Centre of the Westfjords, Akureyri University, Iceland. She teaches and conducts applied research in environmental and community planning. Patricia works extensively with watershed, community planning and environmental groups to achieve environmentally sound land-use planning and development. She was a member of the National Coastal Assessment Advisory Committee (Natural Resources Canada) and the Atlantic Climate Adaptations Solutions Association Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the Coastal Zone Canada Association.

   

  

  Linda Mortsch

  Linda has addressed climate change issues related to water resources, coastal zones and urban areas over a 30-year career. Her goal has been to facilitate adaptation planning and decision-making. Linda has contributed to all Canadian National Climate Change Assessments and since 1989, she has played a role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body for assessing the science related to climate change. While retired from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Linda has an appointment at the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment where she undertakes studies that support adaptation capacity building and moving from adaptation planning to implementation.

   

  

  Graeme Reed

  Graeme Reed is of mixed Anishinaabe and European descent. He works as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), where he advocates for the inclusion of First Nations in climate and energy policy. He is an Action Canada Fellow, holding a Bachelor of Environmental Science from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Science from McGill University.

   

  

  Marjorie Shepherd

  Marjorie is the Director of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)’s Climate Research Division (CRD). The dual focus of developing science information and advice for adaptation and mitigation guide the priorities of this research. She has worked with ECCC since 1990 and has a MSc in Atmospheric Chemistry (1989). She currently represents Canada internationally as delegation member for two Commissions of the World Meteorological Organization: one on Climatology and one on Atmospheric Science, and for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

   

  

  Jim Vanderwal

  Jim is the Fraser Basin Council’s Senior Manager responsible for the Climate Change and Air Quality Program. He has held progressively senior roles at the Council since 1999, developing new initiatives related to river management, stakeholder engagement, energy and emissions planning, climate change adaptation, green fleet management and clean energy development. Jim completed a BASc in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He completed an MSc in Resource Management from the University of British Columbia, specializing in the development of public processes that link technical research with broad public engagement.

   

  

  Fiona Warren – Chair of the Assessment Advisory Committee

  Fiona is the Assessment Manager with the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Division at Natural Resources Canada. She leads Canada in a Changing Climate, the national knowledge assessment, and the development and editing of the National Issues and Regional Perspectives reports. Fiona has extensive experience working on science assessments as a science editor, lead author and project coordinator (2004, 2008 and 2016). She also led the development of the 2014 assessment entitled Canada in a Changing Climate: Sector Perspectives on Impacts and Adaptation. She was a contributing author of the North America chapter in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has been an expert reviewer of several reports and papers on climate change issues. She holds a Master of Science in Geography from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Science (with honours) in Environmental Science from Queen’s University.

   

  

  Thomas White

  Thomas leads the Climate Risk Management Team in British Columbia’s Climate Action Secretariat. The secretariat, in the Ministry of Environment, leads and coordinates research, analysis, development and implementation of programs, policies and legislation relating to climate change adaptation and works collaboratively with other orders of government, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and professional and industry associations with the goal of ensuring that British Columbia is prepared for and resilient to the impacts of climate change.

   

Lead authors are responsible for delivering their chapters and ensuring that writing teams have the appropriate expertise and follow the formatting and writing guidelines. They also respond to the reviewers’ comments.

• Show me the lead authors for the Canada’s Changing Climate Report

   

  

  Nathan Gillet, Spokesperson for CCCR Chapter 2, Understanding Observed Global Climate Change

  Nathan Gillett is a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Climate Research Division. His research focuses on understanding the causes of observed climate change. He is a Coordinating Lead Author of the chapter on human influence on climate in the upcoming IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Nathan received his PhD in atmospheric physics from the University of Oxford in 2001.

   

  

  Greg Flato, Spokesperson for CCCR Chapter 3, Modelling Future Climate Change

  Greg Flato is a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Climate Research Division. He has worked on the development of a series of global climate models used to simulate historical climate variations and project future climate change. He is an elected Vice Chair of the IPCC’s Working Group I and was a Coordinating Lead Author of the model evaluation chapter in the IPCC Fifth Assessment. Dr Flato received his BSc and MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in Engineering Science from Dartmouth College, USA.

   

  

  Xuebin Zhang, Spokesperson for CCCR Chapter 4, Changes in Temperature and Precipitation Across Canada

  Xuebin Zhang is a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Climate Research Division. His main research focus is past and future changes in weather and climate extremes. He was a lead author for the IPCC Special Report Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation and the IPCC Working Group I Fifth Assessment Report. He is a Coordinating Lead Author of the climate extremes chapter in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Dr. Zhang has a background in engineering hydrology and received a PhD degree in Physics (Climatology) from University of Lisbon, Portugal.

   

  

  Chris Derksen, Spokesperson for CCCR Chapter 5, Changes in Snow, Ice and Permafrost Across Canada

  Chris Derksen is a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Climate Research Division, and holds an adjunct faculty position with the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at University of Waterloo. His research focuses on the use of satellite derived datasets and climate models to understand how snow cover and sea ice interact with the global climate system. Chris is a lead author of the upcoming International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. Chris received his Ph.D from the University of Waterloo in 2001.

   

  

  Barrie Bonsal, Spokesperson for Chapter 6: Changes in Freshwater Availability Across Canada

  Barrie Bonsal is a senior research scientist with the Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada and an adjunct professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Saskatchewan. His research examines the impacts of past climate variability and extremes (including droughts and floods), and projected future climate change on the freshwater resources of Canada. Barrie has contributed to past national assessments of climate change impacts and adaptation, and to the international Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic assessment. He obtained a PhD in Physical Geography from the University of Saskatchewan in 1996.

   

  

  Blair Greenan, Spokesperson for CCCR Chapter 7: Changes in Oceans Surrounding Canada

  Blair is a research scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), based at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax. His research group focuses on ocean stressors, ranging from marine oil spills to climate change effects such as ocean acidification. He is the Scientific Director for the Argo Canada program, which contributes to the International Argo program in advancing global real-time observations of the ocean.  Recently, Blair’s research has focused on developing climate change adaptation tools related to coastal infrastructure and fisheries management. Blair received his Ph.D. from the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto.

   

  

  Elizabeth Bush, Project lead and spokesperson for development of Canada’s Changing Climate Report as a contribution to the national assessment.

  Elizabeth Bush is the project lead for development of Canada’s Changing Climate Report. She is a senior climate science advisor with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Climate Research Division. She works at the interface of science and policy on climate change, helping to communicate climate change science and integrate science into decision-making. She has participated in a number of national and international science assessments of climate change and air quality. Elizabeth received a Masters of Science (Biology) degree and a Master of Arts (Environmental Studies) degree from the University of Toronto.

   

  

  Marjorie Shepherd, Spokesperson for development of Canada’s Changing Climate Report as a contribution to the national assessment.

  Marjorie Shepherd is the Director of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Climate Research Division (CRD). This research group of approximately 110 people spans greenhouse gas observations, climate processes and cryosphere research, attribution and detection of climate trends and variability, development of earth system models for global and regional climate projections, and climate impact studies. The dual focus of developing scientific tools and advice for adaptation and mitigation guide the priorities of this research program. Ms. Shepherd received a Master of Science degree in Atmospheric Chemistry, from York University.

   

  

  Daniel Peters, French spokesperson, Chapter 6, Changes in Freshwater Availability Across Canada

  Daniel Peters is a research scientist with the Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria where he taught Hydrology for 10+ years and supervises Graduate student thesis work. His research examines the effects of climate variability/change and development (eg, flow regulation, water abstraction) on the hydrology of river, lake, wetland, and delta systems in Canada. Daniel is an Associate Editor of the Canadian Water Resources Journal. He obtained a PhD in Watershed Ecosystems from Trent University in 2003.

   

  

  Denis Gilbert, French spokesperson, Chapter 7, Changes in Oceans Surrounding Canada

  Denis Gilbert is a physical oceanographer who contributed to the Oceans chapter of CCCR. His main areas of expertise are ocean currents, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and sea level. He completed a B.Sc. in Physics at the University of Québec at Chicoutimi in 1985, and a Ph.D. in physical oceanography at Dalhousie University in 1990. He has been working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada since 1991.

• Show me the lead authors for the Regional Perspectives Report

   

  

  Craig Brown – British Columbia Chapter (co-lead)

  Craig holds a PhD in Environmental Applied Science and Management from Ryerson University and works as an interdisciplinary researcher, consultant, and educator in the areas of urban sustainability and climate resilience. He has supported and managed projects at various scales relating to building and urban design, energy efficiency, climate resilience, flood risk management, green infrastructure, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks.

   

  

  Sabine Dietz – Atlantic Chapter

  Sabine is a biologist, and environmental and climate change adaptation practitioner with Aster Group Environmental Services Co-op in New Brunswick. She was the New Brunswick coordinator for the Atlantic Canada Regional Adaptation Collaborative (Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions), from 2010 to 2013, and has been working with the province of NB, municipalities, land use planners and environmental organizations on various climate change adaptation files and projects since then. Her specific interests lie in the area of natural systems, how they are changing and how we need to change our approach to conservation in a changing climate, as well as their role in reducing and mitigating impacts from climate change. She holds a BA in Natural Resource Studies from Trent University, a Master’s in Environmental Studies from the Université de Moncton, and a PhD in Biology from the University of NB.

   

  

  Allan G. Douglas – Ontario Chapter (co-lead)

  Allan is the President of the Climate Risk Institute, located at Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Ontario. Since 2002, he has been developing adaptation resources and delivering them to domestic and international decision makers. Allan played leading roles in two regional vulnerability assessments in Ontario and co-authored an ecosystems vulnerability assessment guidebook for Ontario. He has contributed content to previous national assessments of climate change impact and adaptation and acted as an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Allan has expertise in climate science; climate change impact, vulnerability and risk assessment; policy development and adaptation planning in natural resource sectors. In 2016, Al co-chaired Adaptation Canada 2016, Canada’s first national symposium on climate change adaptation since 2005. He has also been a member of Canada’s Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Results.

   

  

  Robert Gifford – British Columbia Chapter (co-lead)

  Robert is a professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. He studies resource management, climate-related behaviour, attitudes, and interventions, and the perception of architecture. In addition to his research, Robert is also a faculty member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic), and a Program Committee member with Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. He is the Founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in the Human Dimensions of Climate Change. Robert was Chief Editor of the Journal of Environmental Psychology from 2004 to 2016. He holds a Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University.

   

  

  Bronwyn Hancock – Northern Canada Chapter (co-lead)

  Bronwyn is the Associate Vice President Research Development for Yukon College. She is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of research at Yukon College, and for the development of positive relationships with the broader research community in support of northern research. In addition, she oversees research activities at the Yukon College’s Yukon Research Centre, which includes expertise in climate change, northern energy innovation, mine life cycles, resources and sustainable development in the Arctic, and biodiversity monitoring. Prior to this position, Bronwyn served as Manager of the Northern Climate ExChange, the climate change research group at the Yukon Research Centre, overseeing a team that focuses on studying the impacts and adaptation opportunities associated with climate change in Yukon and northern Canada. Bronwyn holds a doctorate in earth sciences from the University of Waterloo.

   

  

  Caroline Larrivée – Quebec Chapter

  Caroline leads the Vulnerabilities, Impacts and Adaptation Group at Ouranos, where she has worked since October 2006. Her previous positions there included work as a specialist in the Vulnerabilities, Impacts and Adaptation Group and as coordinator of the northern environment and urban areas programs. As an urban planner in the private sector, academic institutions and at the Kativik Regional Government, she collaborated on research into the impacts of climate change on northern communities. Caroline holds a BA in urban planning from Université de Montréal.

   

  

  David Pearson – Ontario Chapter (co-lead)

  David is an earth scientist and Professor in the School of the Environment at Laurentian University. He was the Project Director and founding Director of Science North from 1980 to 1986 and has hosted two science television series as well as a weekly radio spot. From 2002 to 2007 David chaired the Ontario office of the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network. He co-chaired the Ontario Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation, and chaired the Far North Science Advisory Panel that released its report “Science for a Changing Far North” in 2010. He is currently working with remote far north Ontario First Nation communities assessing the likely impacts of climate change and potential adaptation options. David is a member of the Order of Ontario.

   

  

  Dave Sauchyn – Prairies Chapter

  Dave is Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina, where he’s been for the past 35 years. Since 2000, he has been affiliated with the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative. His main research interests are 1) the climate and hydrology of the past millennium and how knowledge of the past can inform scenarios of future climate and water supplies, and 2) planned adaption to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change on the natural capital of Canada’s western Interior. Dave has been invited to give more than 350 talks on climate change, mostly to rural audiences. He was co-lead author of the Prairies chapter for the previous national assessment. Dave recently co-directed a five-year interdisciplinary study of the vulnerability of agricultural communities to climate extremes in Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil and the Canadian Prairies.

   

  

  Maciej Stetkiewicz – Northern Canada Chapter (co-lead)

  Maciej is the Climate Change and Northern Hydrology Project Coordinator at the Northern Climate ExChange, the climate change research group in the Yukon Research Centre at Yukon College. After obtaining his B.Sc in Geography from the University of Victoria, Maciej became interested in how the Yukon’s environment, especially its hydrological systems, were responding to climate change. His interest in the subject increased substantially while working in the Yukon after school where it was apparent that climate change was influencing all aspects of life in the north. Maciej returned to school to complete a Masters of Sustainable Environmental Management from the University of Saskatchewan where he focused on using interdisciplinary approaches to study how climate change is impacting ice-jam flood frequency at the Town of Peace River, Alberta. At the Northern Climate Exchange, he now works on a wide array of projects ranging from climate change policy to hydrological modelling.

• Show me the lead authors for the National Issues Report

   

  

  Richard Boyd – Costs and Benefits of Climate Impacts and Adaptation

  Richard is a Senior Fellow - Resilient Communities at All One Sky Foundation, a not-for-profit charitable organization that assists communities at the nexus of energy and climate change. An environmental economist, his research interests include climate change risk assessment and economic decision-making methodologies, and he has authored several resource guides on these topics. Over the last 20 years, he has led numerous assessments of the socioeconomic impacts of climate change on water resources and quality, human health, energy systems and the built environment, as well as the costs and benefits of adaptation actions to inform decision-making at all levels of government, both within Canada and internationally.

   

  

  Craig Brown – Cities and Towns

  Craig holds a PhD in Environmental Applied Science and Management from Ryerson University and works as an interdisciplinary researcher, consultant, and educator in the areas of urban sustainability and climate resilience. He has supported and managed projects at various scales relating to building and urban design, energy efficiency, climate resilience, flood risk management, green infrastructure, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks.

   

  

  Ashlee Cunsolo – Rural and Remote (co-lead)

  Ashlee Cunsolo, PhD, is the Director of the Labrador Institute of Memorial University, and a passionate researcher, environmental advocate, and community-engaged social science and health researcher working at the intersection of place, culture, health, and environment. For over a decade, she has been working with Indigenous communities and leaders across Canada on a variety of community-led and community-identified research initiatives, including climate change impacts on physical and mental health, cultural reclamation and intergenerational knowledge sharing within a changing environment, and environmental grief and mourning. In particular, her work in partnership with Inuit in Nunatsiavut on climate change and mental health have become seminal studies globally, and her praxiological contributions on ecological grief and mourning have been widely recognized. She is also a contributing author to the IPCC AR6 North America Chapter and the Health Canada Climate Change and Health Assessment Report.

   

  

  Jimena Eyzaguirre – International Dimensions

  Jimena is the international team director and business lead for climate change adaptation at ESSA Technologies Ltd. She has 15 years of experience in policy-relevant research and analysis. Her work since 2006 focuses on equipping individuals and organizations to understand and incorporate the implications of climate-related risks and vulnerabilities into plans and decisions that affect environmental and social outcomes. She has a breadth of Canadian and international experience in adaptation and climate resilience, including in program design, policy analysis, vulnerability assessment, knowledge synthesis and monitoring and evaluation. Jimena is vice president of the Canada-Mathare Education Trust, a Canadian charity dedicated to advancing education in Kenya.

   

  

  Paul Kovacs – Climate Disclosure, Litigation and Finance

  Paul is the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) at Western University, an independent, not-for-profit centre for multi-disciplinary disaster prevention research and communications. His research interest is insurance and adaptation to climate extremes. This includes action to build communities resilient to damage from urban flooding, tornadoes, catastrophic earthquakes and interface wildfire. Since 1996, Paul has been a volunteer with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body for assessing the science related to climate change.

   

  

  Don Lemmen – Sector Impacts and Adaptation Perspectives

  Don obtained his PhD from the University of Alberta in 1988, studying past environmental change in the Canadian High Arctic. As the past research manager in the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Division of Natural Resources Canada, he led development of three Canadian national assessment reports of climate change impacts and adaptation, while contributing to other national, regional and global assessments. Internationally, he has been involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process since 2003, including four years as co-chair of the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee. In 2019 he received an honourary Doctor of Environmental Studies from University of Waterloo for his career contributions to climate change adaptation. 

   

  

  Michelle Molnar – Ecosystem Services

  Michelle works at the David Suzuki Foundation as an Environmental Economist and Policy Analyst, where she focuses on the conservation of natural capital using various tools of ecological economics, policy analysis, and public outreach. She teaches Introduction to Ecological Economics at the British Columbia Institute of Technology through the Sustainable Business Leadership Program and sits on the board of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics. Michelle has an M.A. in Public Policy from Simon Fraser University and in Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario.

   

  

  Kelly Vodden – Rural and Remote (co-lead)

  Kelly is Associate Professor and Associate Vice-President of Research and Graduate Studies at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University. She has been engaged in community and regional development research, policy and practice in Canadian rural communities for more than twenty-five years, including projects related to climate change impacts and adaptation in rural regions in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) and internationally. Kelly led a multi-year project to investigate and develop tools to assess climate change vulnerability and adaptation options in NL for the federal-provincial Atlantic Canada Adaptation Solutions Association, leading the development of climate change assessment reports for six communities and of a workbook for communities. She has also led several multi-year research projects with colleagues across the country on topics ranging from regional development to the sustainability of rural drinking water systems and community impacts of an increasingly mobile workforce. Kelly has presented and published widely on her work.

   

  Al Pietroniro – Water Resources

  Al is Professor and Chair in Sustainable Water Resources in a Changing Climate at the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. He was formerly the Director of Environment Canada Water and Climate Services based at the National Hydrology Research Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Hydrology, University of Saskatchewan; Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo and Associate Faculty, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph. He graduated with distinction from the Agricultural Engineering Program at McGill University. He received Department Scholarships from the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo and holds a Citation of Excellence, Department of Environment. Al is Canadian Delegate to the WMO Commission on Hydrology; President of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences – Commission of Remote Sensing and a registered professional engineer in the Province of Saskatchewan.

  

  Fiona Warren – Introduction

  Fiona is the Assessment Manager with the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Division at Natural Resources Canada. She leads Canada in a Changing Climate, the national knowledge assessment, and the development and editing of the National Issues and Regional Perspectives reports. Fiona has extensive experience working on science assessments as a science editor, lead author and project coordinator (2004, 2008 and 2016). She also led the development of the 2014 assessment entitled Canada in a Changing Climate: Sector Perspectives on Impacts and Adaptation. She was a contributing author of the North America chapter in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has been an expert reviewer of several reports and papers on climate change issues. She holds a Master of Science in Geography from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Science (with honours) in Environmental Science from Queen’s University.

• Show me the lead authors for the Health of Canadians in a Changing Climate Report

  

  Peter Berry, PhD (Editor)

  Since arriving at Health Canada in 1999, Dr. Peter Berry has conducted research in several areas related to climate change including health risks to Canadians, adaptive capacity, health vulnerability assessment and communicating climate change risks to the public. He is currently a Senior Policy Analyst and Science Advisor to the Director at the Climate Change and Innovation Bureau at Health Canada. Peter actively participates in a number of collaborative efforts related to understanding the impacts of climate change on health and supporting the development of effective adaptation measures. Peter has had the the great privileledge of collaborating with health authorities from local to international levels to increase understanding of climate change impacts on health and develop effective measures to build the resilience of individuals, communities and health systems. Peter serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo and as an Adjunct Research Professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University.

  

  Rebekka Schnitter, MCC (Editor)
  Health Canada

  Upon completing her Bachelor of Science in geography at the University of Victoria, Rebekka obtained a master’s degree in climate change from the University of Waterloo. She is a policy analyst at Health Canada’s Climate Change and Innovation Bureau where she supports the development of the national climate change and health assessment as a co-editor of the assessment report and as a lead author of the chapters on health equity, and food safety and security.

  

  Céline Campagna, PhD
  Institut national de santé publique du Québec and Centre Terre, Eau, Environnement of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique

  Céline Campagna is a researcher at Québec National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ - Institut national de santé publique du Québec). Since 2017, she heads the scientific program in Climate change and health for Québec and holds an expertise in health issues related to climate, water, food and zoonosis. She is also adjunct professor at Centre Terre, Eau, Environnement of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS-ETE), as well as at Université Laval - department of Social and preventive medicine, in Québec.

  

  Dr. Margo Greenwood, O.C.

  Dr. Margo Greenwood, Academic Leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, is an Indigenous scholar of Cree ancestry with years of experience focused on the health and well-being of Indigenous children, families and communities. She is also Vice-President of Indigenous Health, Northern Health, and Professor in both the First Nations Studies and Education programs at the University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Greenwood has received numerous awards for her achievements in early childhood education and health policy, including the Queen's Jubilee medal (2002), BC Academic of the Year (2010) and National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education (2011.) She is honoured to be appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada (2021.).

  

  Sherilee Harper, PhD
  University of Alberta

  Sherilee Harper is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta and a Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Health.  Her research investigates associations between weather, environment, and Indigenous health in the context of climate change, and she collaborates with Indigenous partners to prioritise climate-related health actions, planning, interventions, and research. She is a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC); Lead Author on the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6-WG2); serves on the Gender Task Group for the IPCC; and serves on the Editorial Board of Epidemiology and Infection (area of specialty: climate change and infectious disease).

  

  Katie Hayes, PhD
  Health Canada

  Katie Hayes is senior policy analyst at Health Canada’s Climate Change and Innovation Bureau. She completed her PhD at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto (UofT). Her doctoral research explored the mental health consequences of climate change, with a specific focus on addressing the inequitable risks and impacts on marginalized groups. Katie has published a number of recent articles exploring the public health consequences of climate change. She holds an M.A from Royal Roads University in International Communications and a B.A in Sociology and Intercultural Education.

  

  Tim K. Takaro, MD, MPH, MS
  Simon Fraser University

  Dr. Takaro is a physician-scientist trained in occupational and environmental medicine, public health and toxicology, at Yale, the University of North Carolina and University of Washington and in 2017 began his second term as Associate Dean for Research at Simon Fraser University. His research is primarily directed toward the links between human exposures and disease, and determining public health based preventive solutions to such risks. These include disease susceptibility factors in environmental and occupational health, particularly inflammatory lung conditions, including asthma, chronic beryllium disease and asbestosis. His work includes use of biological and other markers for medical surveillance, exposure assessment, and disease susceptibility with a focus on immunologic lung disease, human health and war, clinical occupational and environmental health and population resiliency in the health effects of climate change. Current research on human health and climate change focuses on water quality in BC communities and the interaction of cumulative exposures related to resource extraction and climate change.

  

  Donna Atkinson, MA
  National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health

  Donna Atkinson is the Manager of the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health. She graduated with a Master of Arts degree in History in 2005 from the University of Northern British Columbia focused on the Indigenous rights movement and oil and gas development in Northwest Siberia in the Soviet and post-Soviet era. Prior to joining the NCCIH in 2006, Donna worked as a researcher on community-based, qualitative research projects focused on Indigenous health and sustainable resource management.

  

  Nicholas Ogden, BVSc DPhil
  Public Health Agency of Canada

  Dr. Nick Ogden is a UK-trained veterinarian (University of Liverpool, 1983). After 10 years of mixed clinical practice, he then completed a doctorate in Lyme disease ecology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford in 1996. During the six years he spent as a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, he continued his research into the ecology and epidemiology of tick-borne diseases of public health importance in Europe and those of importance to livestock production in Africa. In 2002 he moved to Canada, where he continued research on the ecology of Lyme disease and other zoonoses and climate change as a research scientist at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). As interim Director of the Environmental Issues Division of PHAC he directed a program on climate change and vector- and water-borne disease risks, and community adaptation to these risks. As Director of the Zoonoses Division he directed programs on national coordination, surveillance and prevention of zoonoses including Lyme disease and West Nile virus. He is now a senior research scientist and Director of Public Health Risk Sciences division within the National Microbiology Laboratory of PHAC focusing on assessing risk by study of the ecology, epidemiology and genetic diversity of vectors and zoonotic and vector-borne micro-organisms, assessing impacts of climate change on zoonoses and vector-borne diseases, and developing tools for public health adaptation.

  

  Pierre Gosselin, MD MPH
  Institut national de santé publique du Québec and Centre Terre, Eau, Environnement of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique

  Pierre just retired from his work at the Quebec Public Health Institute (INSPQ), as a consulting physician for the joint Ouranos-INSPQ research and adaptation program in climate change and health, which he lead from 2004 to 2019. He was also in charge of the Health component of the Quebec Action Plan on Climate Change (2007-2017). He is also a clinical professor in preventive medicine at Université Laval and an associate at Institut national de la recherche scientifique, both in Quebec City. Pierre was trained as a physician (Université Laval) and in environmental health (University of California at Berkeley).

  Paddy Enright
  Health Canada and University of Waterloo

  Paddy Enright is a Policy Analyst within Health Canada’s Climate Change and Innovation Bureau. Paddy has completed a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Geography from Bishop’s University and a M.Sc. in Bioresource Engineering from McGill University. Paddy is currently a PhD candidate within the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. In his PhD research Paddy is exploring means of fostering climate-resilience within rural Canadian health systems.

  

  Roberta Stout, M.A.
  National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health

  Roberta Stout is Cree and a member of the Kehewin First Nation, located in Alberta. She holds an undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Carleton University, a graduate degree in Latin American Studies from Simon Fraser University, and a Cree Language Immersion Certificate from Blue Quills First Nations College. Since 1998, Roberta has led concurrent and multi-year research projects on the determinants of related to Indigenous peoples. She is currently a Research Associate with the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health and resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

  Regine Halseth
  National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health

  Regine Halseth has worked as a Research Associate with the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Indigenous Health at the University of Northern British Columbia for the past 11 years. After graduating from the University of Victoria in 1986, she worked for five years as a researcher for the Social Program Evaluation Group at Queen’s University. She then moved to the University of Northern British Columbia where she worked as a researcher on several projects, including a Forest Renewal Research Grant on Community Participation in the New Forest Economy, a project on Indigenous land claims, and a Community-University Research Alliance grant, “Partnering for Sustainable Resource Management.”

  

  Phil Blagden
  Health Canada

  Phil Blagden is a science advisor in Health Canada’s air quality program and has more than thirty years of experience in government as a scientist and policy advisor in the field of environmental pollution, primarily in the area of indoor and outdoor air quality.

Contact us

adaptation@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca