The impact of global climate change is affecting every region of Canada. From coast-to-coast-to-coast, we are experiencing rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, declining snow and ice cover, changing freshwater availability, rising sea levels, increasing wildfire risk, and more frequent and severe climate extremes. These changes are creating challenges for people, communities, businesses, ecosystems, and infrastructure across the country.
Understanding how Canadians need to adapt to these changes, both in the near-term and further into the future, is critical information needed for effective climate resilience and informing our fight against climate change. Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 is a rigorous assessment of the latest peer-reviewed scientific literature and data examining past and future changes in Canada's climate. The report builds on the first edition, released in 2019, and gathers expert conclusions in one place to facilitate effective decision-making. The information in the report is accessible to a wide range of audiences, with both high-level summary information and detailed analyses of the evidence that supports key findings.
Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 is the physical climate science contribution to the fifth cycle of Canada in a Changing Climate, the national assessment process of how and why Canada's climate is changing. The impacts of these changes on our communities, health, environment, and economy and how we are adapting to these impacts across the country will be covered by other reports under the national assessment process.
The report includes contributions from over 100 Canadian experts from government and academia and has been extensively peer-reviewed. While the scope of the report did not include an assessment of climate change impacts, it contains case stories from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, documenting observations of climate change and providing insight into the consequences of these changes. This is a new feature of this edition of Canada's Changing Climate Report.
Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 contributes to the implementation of Canada's National Adaptation Strategy by providing foundational climate knowledge and data. Delivery of Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 reflects Canada's continued commitment to advancing consistent, national evidence based on climate change and climate hazards to support policy development, adaptation planning, resilience, and emergency preparedness. The report will also help inform Canada's next National Adaptation Strategy.
Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 serves many audiences by providing critical information on Canada's changing climate; identifying key knowledge gaps that can help advance research; and contributing to national awareness of why action on climate change is needed.
Since the publication of Canada's Changing Climate Report 2019, there have been important new developments in climate science and an increase in scientific publications. Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 covers more topics than the first edition as a result of these advancements.
Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026 includes 10 chapters covering the following topics:
- Chapter 1: About this report
- Chapter 2: Overview of past changes in climate
- Chapter 3: Overview of future changes in climate
- Chapter 4: Large-scale atmosphere-ocean processes affecting climate
- Chapter 5: Changes in the water cycle
- Chapter 6: Changes in the cryosphere
- Chapter 7: Changes in the oceans
- Chapter 8: Changes in extremes
- Chapter 9: The role of the carbon cycle in climate change
- Chapter 10: Climate services and using climate information
