How are local governments planning for heat mitigation? A study of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley jurisdictions

Heat is a growing concern for Canada's increasingly urbanized populations, particularly for local governments, whose regulation and control of land and development impact the magnitude of the Urban Heat Island effect. This study is a document review of plans and policies from municipalities and regional districts in the south coast of mainland British Columbia, a region historically unfamiliar with extreme heat. The analysis explores heat mitigation actions: how they can be categorized, where they can be found, and what policy approaches are used by local governments. Our overall results showed a focus on specific heat mitigation interventions: urban greening, along with others at site-scales. Heat-mitigating interventions were not uniformly and explicitly signalled within and across governments. Effective heat governance at the local level requires regional coordination and alignment with higher levels of government, and opening policy windows reinforce the opportunity to create equitable heat outcomes for the entire region.