This is no surprise to Canada’s cities and communities. Some are already seeing the impact of more frequent and more severe weather and, in the North, a damaging warming trend.

In addition to severe weather, we may be looking at longer and hotter heat waves, floods and droughts, infestations of pests like the western pine beetle, and changing freeze-thaw cycles. The North will be especially hard hit as winter ice roads disappear and permafrost melts.

The changing climate will have a profound impact on both people and their infrastructure. For example, more frequent and hotter heat waves will lead to more illness and death, particularly among the young, elderly and frail. Respiratory disorders may be aggravated by poor air quality.

Infrastructure like bridges, roads, sewers, buildings, parks and green spaces may not withstand the predicted severe weather and radical changes in climate.

These changes should concern all Canadians, but they particularly concern municipal governments, which must deal with the impact of climate change on their infrastructure and the people in their communities.

First, they must deal with the effects of extreme weather: preparing for it, cleaning up after it, and paying the bills.

And much of their infrastructure is old and already reaching the end of its service life. Add extreme heat and cold, high winds, too much rain or not enough, rising water levels and other stresses, and you have the recipe for accelerated aging and maybe even collapse.

Some municipal governments are already adapting their bridges, roads, sewers and other infrastructure to withstand the impact of a changing climate. For example, they are improving stormwater management systems, introducing water conservation, and strengthening municipal buildings. But all this costs money, for the science and technology needed to understand what to expect in each community and the best way to respond, then to do the required work to prepare.

Municipal governments don’t have the resources to meet this challenge alone. They are already stretched financially, struggling to cope with the large and growing $60-billion national municipal infrastructure deficit. Nor can they coordinate nationally to make the best use of resources and expertise.

This is a global issue that requires national leadership to marshal a Canada-wide response. What’s needed is a nationally coordinated strategy, supported and led by the federal government. We began working on this with former Environment Minister Rona Ambrose. We are looking forward to continuing this work with the new minister of the environment.

In her most recent report, Canada’s commissioner of the environment and sustainable development said "the government must better prepare for the impacts of climate change on federal programs, the economy and society." The report acknowledged that the federal government should "work with other levels of government" in developing clear priorities for adapting to climate change.

In our pre-budget submission to the federal government, FCM recommended the government establish a municipal climate change adaptation fund to help municipal governments prepare for and respond to climate change. A portion of the fund would go to assessing the impact of climate change in the North, where the changes in climate are expected to be most severe.

There’s no time to waste. Climate change is a fact and it’s past time we got started understanding how it will affect us so we can take steps to respond. We only have to look at the Red River flood of 1997 or Hurricane Katrina to see the costs of waiting until after a disaster to take action. The time is now, before lives are lost, property destroyed and billions spent on clean up.

Gord Steeves is a Winnipeg councillor and president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Read more CSCD newsletter articles.