The report, authored by officials with CISSSO’s public health department, analyzes the risk of different adverse weather events, identifying four as vulnerabilities for the Outaouais: extreme heat, flooding, strong winds and forest fires. MRC Pontiac had the highest vulnerability score for all four of the adverse weather events identified as a risk for the area, as did the city of Gatineau and MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau.

The report includes projections about how the Outaouais’ climate will change in the coming decades, such as increases in precipitation or average temperature, and how these changes will impact different communities.

“The report will serve as a basis for developing the regional adaptation plan to reduce the health impacts of climate hazards,” the press release for the report states (translated).

The report includes a portrait of the overall health and demographics of the different regions within the Outouais, including the Pontiac service area (RLS), which includes the Municipality of Pontiac.

It points out that the Pontiac RLS has the highest rate of excessive alcohol consumption, at 33.8 per cent (compared to 27.3 per cent in Outaouais), and the second highest smoking rate (30.6 per cent compared to 27.3 per cent in Outaouais).

On top of that, MRC Pontiac has a lower socio-economic status, scoring below the regional average for income, employment rate and education level.

However, on the “social deprivation” scale in the report, Pontiac was found to have fewer people living alone and fewer single-parent families, as compared to the regional average, though the divorce rate in the Pontiac was higher.

“This rural MRC is experiencing an economic disadvantage due to its aging population. On the other hand, social deprivation is low due to a strong social fabric,” the report states (translated).

These disadvantages, combined with an elderly population, make the Pontiac region more vulnerable, and less able to respond to the impacts of climate change, according to the report.

Speaking to Radio-Canada, report author Dr. Guillaume Campagné said that the changing climate will have an impact on the region’s public health.

“We will have more extreme weather events in the future, more intense, more frequent, and our vulnerable populations will suffer the consequences even more than today,” he said.

The report notes that public health authorities plan to build on this “first step” to adapt the regional health care system to the increased risks posed by climate change laid out in the report.

The full text of the 88-page report (French only) can be found on the CISSSO’s website.

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