Meteorological Service of Canada: Appearance before the Standing Committee – March 24, 2022

Investments in the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC)

Q1. What is the role of the MSC?

• The MSC is the authoritative source for data, information, forecasts and alerts regarding weather, water quantity, ice, air quality, and other environmental conditions across Canada, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.
  • This includes forecasts for Canadians to make decisions about daily activities, emergency warnings for public authorities to protect property and save lives, and information for weather-sensitive economic sectors to thrive.
• The MSC also provides weather and environmental prediction services to support:
  • safe commercial aviation, marine navigation in ice-infested waters, and military operations at home and abroad, under formal agreements and cost recovery; and
  • a number of international commitments, including providing atmospheric dispersion modeling in the event of a release of radioactive substances, maintaining a continuous, around-the-clock monitoring and warning system for volcanic ash, and contributing to key mandates of the World Meteorological Organization, including disaster risk reduction.

Q2. Why are investments in the MSC needed now?

• The Government of Canada regularly invests in hydro-meteorological services to keep pace with evolving operational requirements and advancements in science and technology. Previous investments made through Budgets 2013 and 2018 laid the foundation for the robust hydro-meteorological services we rely on in Canada today.
• However, in light of the time since the last reinvestment, the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and the direct impact on Canadians and communities, there is a need to proceed with a new long-term investment strategy for hydro-meteorological services.
• Indeed, the extreme weather events experienced across Canada in 2021 have shown how climate change has already altered our reality and put the safety, security, and economic prosperity of Canadians at risk. For example:
  • An unprecedented summer heat wave resulted in record high temperatures during on the west coast, which sparked numerous wildfires, led to the displacement of entire communities, and caused the death of approximately 600 people;
  • Devastating precipitation events and flooding in British Columbia in the fall – the province’s most costly extreme weather event to date – which caused $450 million in insured losses, resulted in the loss of crops and farm animals, and disrupted critical transportation infrastructure and supply chains.
• The significant socio-economic impacts of these events underscores the urgent need for Canadian communities to adapt to this new reality, which cannot be achieved without periodic investments in Canada’s world-class hydro-meteorological services.
• Recent events have also highlighted the need to climate-proof MSC’s monitoring instruments and infrastructure, which are not immune to the impacts of climate change:
  • During the 2021 west coast heat wave, temperatures occasionally exceeded the operating range of sensors and associated quality control mechanisms while several hydrometric stations were washed away during the subsequent intense precipitation and flooding in British Columbia.
• Extreme weather events will continue to occur with increasing frequency and intensity because of climate change. Strengthening and evolving weather and environmental prediction services is needed to support Canadians in facing the consequences of increasingly unprecedented weather.

Q3. What are the expected outcomes of new investments in the MSC?

• Investments will result in the production and dissemination of critical weather, water quantity and environmental information that Canadians and public authorities need to adapt and to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
• More specifically, investments will help the MSC predict extreme weather and weather-induced conditions and their impacts at the local level with more certainty and greater lead-time.
• In turn, this will support decision-making by Canadians and public authorities to take action, including on whether to travel, closing roads, deploying first responders to a specific area, and relocating specific communities, with the goal of reducing the impacts—and costs—of weather-related events.
• In addition the information produced using updated or new technologies, as well as more powerful models, will provide the information needed to review the warning thresholds and risk assessments that underpin emergency preparedness for both short fuse weather events and events that evolve slowly (such as droughts).