Your Opinion About Extreme Weather
Worsening air quality in Quebec and Ontario, recurring wildfires in Western, Eastern, and Atlantic Canada, and intense heatwaves are among the growing concerns for many Canadians. Your opinion about extreme weather helps us understand just how widespread and personal these impacts have become.
Luckily, at LEO, we don’t just endure the weather—we talk about it. Thanks to your responses, we’ve been able to paint a clear picture of how Canadians are experiencing and responding to these events.
What Your Opinion About Extreme Weather Told Us
In partnership with Leger, we surveyed LEO members to better understand their opinions, perceptions and concerns about extreme weather.
Here are some key highlights:
- 88% believe extreme weather events are more frequent than before
- 61% worry about direct impacts on their health or quality of life
- Over half were personally affected this summer by heat, smoke, or air quality alerts
- 75% think more action is needed to adapt to climate impacts
These numbers tell a clear story: extreme weather is no longer a distant concern. It’s personal, it’s immediate, and it’s fueling a growing call for action. Whether it’s heat, smoke, or poor air quality, your experiences highlight the need for better preparation and stronger responses—now more than ever.
Check out the full data here :
Other articles you might find interesting :
Why your opinion matters
Thousands of you answer our surveys every week. Your voice doesn’t disappear into thin air—it fuels decisions, research, and public policies.
Thanks for speaking up. Let’s keep building a more conscious and resilient future, one survey at a time.
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Have recent extreme weather events like wildfires, bad air quality, or heatwaves impacted you? Share your experience in the comments below.
All comments must remain respectful and must not contain inappropriate, offensive, defamatory content, or anything that goes against the terms of use; otherwise, they may not be approved or may be removed by LEO.
68 responses to “Fires, Bad Air Quality and Heat”
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Hi all, I live in Hinton AB. & ALSO VALEMOUNT B.C at times. Jasper AB.is only one hr. Drive away.anyway Jasper loss 30% in a big fire burning in the big provincial park that surrounds it. I think 300 houses, apartments & services were destroyed. The whole area for miles was thick with smoke. Very hard to breath.this was last year, this year were lucky here because mother nature has sent the hot dry weather far to the east. Good luck & hang in there eastern Canada.
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It has been terrible. The atmosphere was very soggy, making it difficult for people to breathe. It’s not very healthy to breathe in Canada right now
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Yes the extreme heat and air quality has effected me. I have asthma so it becomes difficult to breathe when it is extremely hot and humid
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They haven’t directly impacted me, but is a little bit worrisome that I have grown up here and at the age of 50 have never expressed most of these severe weather conditions
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We were camping during the Civic Day long weekend in the Kingston/1000 islands area and the air quality was quite bad most of the days. We could not go for long walks or hiking
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I have lived in Canada my whole life (50 years) and what seems to be the result of climate change is very concerning. Yes, we had heat waves that would last a couple days, but weeks? We would at least get a couple days of rain to balance it out. Grass, and plants are dying. Forest fires are happening everywhere. It’s real and people need to respect the fire bans and hiking ban or we will see some scary situations.
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Some content I would agree with but the earth has been changing for millions of years through cycles! However many people who smoke are careless, AVTs, lightning strikes, uncut dead timber, bad management of resources, poor response from fire personnel, as many of our Provinces do not work with each other! Also many of our people who suffer from smoke are themselves smokers,
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The summer have definitely gotten hotter. Growing up in Newfoundland, temperatures rarely reached over 20 degrees on the South West Coast. Now it goes 25 plus at times. I personally love the heat and humidity but I am concerned with the trend it brought. Fires and air quality.
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Hi, my name is Annie. I am from windsor Ontario. My daughter got her allergic in summer and doctor told us that it’s due to wildfire.
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The fires burning in the prairie provinces ,Alarming ,worst year yet ,Live in Saskatchewan ,saddening the devastation ,poor air quality ,Boots on the ground and in the air ,stay safe out there
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I live in Winnipeg. Our area has not been directly affected so far this year except the smoke from all the wildfires. We have been very lucky so far, but I worry about all those whose houses have been in danger or burned. I feel so bad for those who have been displaced, some for a very long time.
I am unhealthily anxious about the future. -
Absolutely they have effected my family immensely. My mother is 65 and has a rare form of asthma called eosinophilia which already causes a lack of oxygen in her airways and the air quality has made her breathing so bad that she can barely make it from the front step to her car which is barely a 15 foot distance. Our whole family is praying she makes it to her next birthday.
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Even here in Waco,Texas which is a city in the heart of Texas. Close to Dallas and we are the home of Baylor Bears. We have seen winter disasters in 2019 Mid February was a very catastrophic time for us Texans. We aren’t prepared for extreme anything to be exact. Now reading that it’s becoming a systemic issue overall we need to be able to sustain extreme weather and take the necessary precautions to prevent and better prepare ourselves for the future.
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I don’t find the summers any different now than they were 40 years ago. The heat is no more “hotter” now than it was then. Over 60% of wildfires in Canada are human caused. I think planes cause more damage than anything. Have a look a flight map.
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I am not really affected by the weather, but just a little bit concerned about the climate change
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Weather quality is very concerning for people with health issues it hard to breathe with smoke in the air and everything is dying from the heat waves and not enough rain
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Yes, the recent extreme weather has definitely impacted me. The heatwaves have been exhausting, making it hard to stay outdoors for long, and the poor air quality from wildfires has affected my breathing. It’s been a reminder of how much climate change is influencing daily life.”
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The heat gets to be annoying when you cant do daily chores or go out for a walk.when the trails and use of atv.are shut down along with the fire ban YES IT GETS VERY CONCERING . Temps have been going up for years !
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The heat wave ended in Terrace BC, it almost feels like winter again. I need to move to a warm climate
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The weather is too frustrating right now, it’s so hot inside as well, even though I am living in a basement, I feel super hot inside
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Last week we experienced the heat wave for a week – dry air and fortunately, it rained yesterday which helped the environment became cooler.
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I grew up in Canada, and have lived in Alberta for the last 20 years.
I can remember snow at Halloween, and going out in a t shirt. I’ve been frozen at Easter, and sunburned.
This summer has been wet and cool, with zero ‘extreme’ hot weather, regardless of what the media is bleating. Weather has always been cyclical, and nothing we do outside of nuclear war will change that. -
The weather has been sickly hot. Even with air conditioner on it hot,can’t breathe air quality is horrible, with all the fires etc
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In 2023 there were wildfires out west, in northern Quebec and I think in northern Ontario too. I live in Durham Region, Ontario close to the lake, the smoke was very thick from the fires. Our horse we owned at the time boarded 45 min drive northeast of us and she developed asthma (which we hoped would go away after meds and the smoke leaving) but in November her breathing became bad again so she’s on meds permanently.
In 2024 there was no smoke in southern Ontario so with her puffers she was fine, no coughing nor laboured breathing, I was very thankful.
This summer we have a lot of wildfires all over Canada but only noticed a few days of hazy smoky air the horse’s breathing is bad again and has been put on nebulizer and not being ridden. In the last week my 27 yr old daughter has complained of a tight chest, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations and dizziness. I took her to the doctor on the weekend, now she’s on a puffer, and has to go next week for a heart monitor, I’m worried that she is developing asthma or something worse. For people who don’t believe in climate change it’s here!! I’m 65 and was born and raised here, as a kid growing up we never or rarely had humid weather that felt like 40 C like it does now, and never was there so many wildfires, yes it was dry at times but we’d get rain more often.
I’m hoping that govt’s in North America will put into action what scientists and inventors have said, plant more trees for shade/cooling, get those carbon capture machines working, lower greenhouse gases. If we do nothing we will see temps like India 50 C!! Just look at the devastation and displacement from wildfires in Los Angeles what 6-8 months ago!! -
Work and be humble take a breath and injoy life it is hot but remember winter is around the corner
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Is worrying extreme weather events happen more and more often. I think we should reward companies to allow more remote work to promote less movement and use of individual transportation. Clearly the weather is just a consequence of the pollution and worsening of the environment health
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While living on Vancouver Island, being exposed to wildfire smoke recently has worsened my symptoms of COPD; increasing my usage of medical inhalers.
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The fires are making the air quality really bad right now. It’s hard to breathe and dangerous for everyone’s health.
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They haven’t directly impacted me, but is a little bit worrisome that I have grown up here and at the age 33, do yeah
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I feel this summer very hot, but just a little bit concerned about the climate change, now is very unpredictable
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I feel this summer very 🥵 hot. I hope it’s not short, but just a little bit concerned about the climate change, now is very unpredictable
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This extreme heat makes me miss home so much more! I miss being surrounded by water! I miss putting on a bathing suit rather than underwear, knowing I’ll be swimming sometime during the day!
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I live in edmonton the weather here has always been crappy I remember once it snowed in July, in 1994 this past summer and the last 3 summers have been way to hot and the winter have been minus 50 I don’t ever remember it ever being that cold ever in my life and I was born and raised here I do think it’s gonna keep getting worse. So get use to it or move somewhere warmer Like Mexico
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I live in Moncton, NB. I’ve lived here since 1998.
I have never had a summer like we had this year.
Even in a region where the Bay of Fundy protects from heat – you could feel the difference from the years before! Very hot days there too! Very warm wind as well.
Too hot to stay outside for more than 30-60 minutes.
Too hot to walk my dog.
Unfortunatly, we have to get used to this. I am worried about y son’s futur and wonder what kind of weather he’ll be living in… -
The weather is getting worse and it impacts directly our life as we reduce the outdoor activities .
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I have asthma, though not serious, but even just having my 2 window air conditioners running caused breathing problems for me some days (Georgina, Ontario).
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The heat has been exceptional this summer. We are definitely spending more time inside. Walks with the dog are 7am and 8pm and are shorter in duration.
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About our severe weather in July we had alot of rain almost to the point we where thinking flood, mostly its been Hot and wildfires this year hasn’t been to bad, smoke qnd air quality qt q minimum…
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The winter 2024 was extremely harsh and cold and summer 2025 was completely out of the box hot! I thinks its just because we are polluting the earth and people are far away from being a good decision.
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Sadly humans only recall the rainy days. Human beings produce heat and thereby with the very large migrations happening all over the planet it is only fair to expect temperature changes, hence inciting weather changes….
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The weather in the USA is a mess right now , I don’t know weather it’s gone be 99 degrees today and 50 degrees tomorrow, the atomosphere air is so thick and contaminated I’ve been sick as a dog and hoping that it gets better … it’s like the weather is controlled by the government and we just have to deal with it .
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Yes we have been affected this year by drought, poor air quality due to wildfires and water shortages.
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The weather hasn’t impacted me physically but mentally it has. I think about the future of young people. Being older I can adjust and believe that the impact may not affect me in the remaining years of my life but will affect people in the long term.
It WILL get very bad I believe due to climate change and I don’t believe at this point much can be done to reverse the affects of even fix them for the future sadly
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