The City of Toronto’s Office of Emergency Management, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, will issue an Extreme Cold Weather Alert when Environment Canada forecasts a temperature of -15° C or colder, or a wind chill of -20° C or colder, for the City of Toronto.
Extreme Cold Weather Alerts may also be issued when the forecast includes factors that increase the impact of cold weather on health. These include precipitation, low daytime temperatures, or several days and nights of cold weather in a row. The Cold Weather Response Plan provides a framework for implementing and co-ordinating cold weather preparedness and response activities which focus on reducing the negative health impacts of cold weather conditions.
To find out total days and dates that extreme cold weather alerts were issued in Toronto for winter seasons going back to 2004-2005, visit Statistics on Extreme Cold Weather Alerts in Toronto.
Register your email in order to receive a notice when the Medical Officer of Health issues and terminates a Extreme Cold Weather Alert.
The personal information on this form is collected under the authority of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7. The information is used to subscribe the provided email address to a City of Toronto e-notice for cold weather alerts. Questions about this collection may be directed to the Manager, Healthy Environments, Toronto Public Health, 5100 Yonge St., 2nd floor, Toronto, ON M2N 5V7. Telephone: 416-338-7600. By subscribing to this service you are providing express consent, as defined by the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), to receive email updates from the City of Toronto.
Exposure to extreme cold weather can be harmful to your health. Follow these tips to stay warm, dry and healthy this winter.
During extreme cold weather conditions, please visit vulnerable family, friends and neighbours, especially isolated seniors.
Other groups at risk include:
Read more about cold-related illness and how to stay warm and healthy this winter.
Plan ahead and get your home and car ready for winter:
Groups and organizations should develop a plan for how they will handle cold weather to ensure that everyone will stay safe.
Groups and organizations should also develop an emergency plan in case of power outage during the winter.