Climate projections for the Capital Region (Canada)

The Capital Regional District (CRD) of Canada has undertaken this study to prepare the region for the impacts of climate change. To support this, the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) has produced high-resolution regional projections to understand the details of how the region's climate may change by the 2050s and 2080s.

Information provided in this report is intended to describe a plausible future and to provide the region’s decision makers with an improved understanding of projected local climate change for temperature, precipitation, and related indices of extremes. High-level comments on the possible impacts of these changes are also presented as a first step in working collaboratively as a region to understand and prepare for the changes ahead. This document is not intended to offer a holistic analysis of impacts or serve as design guidelines for future planning.

A selected number of standard climate indicators are offered in this report as key properties of the regional climate system. Taken together, they tell a story of how the region's  climate is expected to change over time. The first section offers a general description of the region's  changing climate, followed by sections on precipitation, summer temperatures, and winter temperatures. Each section includes a description of each indicator, along with a summary of projected trends.

The second section of this report identifies potential impacts of climate change on different sectors within the region. These include human health, rainwater management and sewerage,
water supply and demand, tourism and recreation, our transportation network, ecosystems and species, buildings and energy systems, and food and agriculture. This information on potential impacts will assist those charged with planning for the future and help the community at large to understand their role in preparing for climate change.