National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health |

April 2025

Heat alert and response systems in Canada:
A check-up on preparedness

The pan-Canadian HARS stocktake provides an overview of heat alert and response systems (HARS) across Canada. This review identifies key challenges such as funding shortages, staff turnover, and barriers to reaching at-risk populations, while offering recommendations to strengthen HARS through improved funding, clearer roles, enhanced data sharing and standards, and supports for cooling spaces and housing adaption.

Chronic wasting disease: A jurisdictional scan of advice for hunters and cervid meat-processors in CWD affected areas

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal prion disease that is becoming more widespread among North American cervids such as deer. Despite no known human cases, precautions during meat handling and processing are still warranted. This jurisdictional scan reviews the available advice for hunters and meat processors on the safe handling and processing of wild cervid meat.

Upcoming Webinar

From rain gardens to resilience:
Green stormwater infrastructure for healthier cities

April 30, 2025 | 12:00 - 1:00pm Pacific Time

Tugce Conger, M.URP, Ph.D.
Fraser Health Authority
Heidi Horlacher, P.Geo.,
City of Vancouver

Register free

Research Scan

April 2025 environmental health research scan

This monthly Research Scan highlights recent environmental health publications by topic and provides easy access to article abstracts and report summaries to support public health professionals, researchers, planners, students, and others working in public health.

Announcements

The Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE) Healthy Environments for Learning Day

Extreme heat in schools and child care settings
April 24th, 2025

Extreme heat harms children’s health and wellbeing and makes it harder for them to learn and thrive at school. In Canada, many schools and childcare settings are not well equipped to protect children and staff from extreme heat. Due to climate change, extreme heat events in Canada are increasing in number, severity, and length, so action to improve children’s protection from extreme heat is more urgent than ever.

CPCHE is engaging partners and collaborators through the 2025 HELD campaign to urge decision-makers to take swift action on extreme heat in schools and childcare settings across Canada.

Traffic-related air pollution:
A systematic review-based human health risk assessment of mortality

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is the contribution of on-road vehicles to air pollution. TRAP is of particular concern in urban areas and near highways, where concentrations are the most elevated.

Health Canada has previously evaluated the association between exposure to TRAP and asthma, allergy, lung function, and selected cancer types. The objective of this risk assessment is to evaluate the association of mortality with TRAP exposure. This will inform and support programs and policies designed to mitigate exposure to, and the health impacts of, TRAP in Canada.

Webinar Recording

External Events

Please note that not all information is available in both official languages as the source of the information may not be subject to the Official Languages Act.

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This email is compliant with Canadian Anti-Spam legislation. For more information please visit the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation page.Production of the NCCEH eNews has been made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada through the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health. NCCEH is one of six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health
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