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Emergency Warming and Cooling Centres

This page was last reviewed on December 3, 2025.

Warming and cooling centres are provincially funded resources intended to provide safe spaces for local residents who need to escape extreme heat or cold. The Village of Cumberland, in partnership with Comox Valley Emergency Management (CVEM), may activate these spaces when specific criteria are met.

In the Comox Valley, warming and cooling centres are activated by CVEM as authorized and funded by the BC Ministry of Emergency Management & Climate Readiness. On-site services are typically delivered by a third-party service provider that is contracted and coordinated by CVEM staff.

When and if such a space is activated in Cumberland, it is designed to support the unmet needs of local residents.

Warming Centres

Warming centres are temporary, low-barrier drop-in spaces that offer seating, snacks, washrooms and security but do not provide sleeping areas, cots, or mats.

They may be activated as a life safety measure during periods of extreme cold when any of the following conditions for Vancouver Island/Comox Valley are met:

  1. Environment & Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is forecasting, for the next 24-hour period, a temperature of -4C or lower as the lowest temperature for that period;
  2. According to ECCC, the temperature currently is -4C or lower;
  3. ECCC, for the next 24-hour period, is forecasting a temperature of 0C or lower as the lowest temperature for that period AND has issued a weather warning;
  4. According to ECCC, the temperature currently is 0C or lower AND ECCC has issued a weather warning; or
  5. There are locally identified conditions, such as a power outage combined with low temperature, that represent a risk to life and safety.

For more information about warming centres, including the locations of other activations in the Comox Valley and how warming centres differ from emergency shelters, please refer to the CVRD Warming Centres webpage.

Cooling Centres

Cooling centres may be activated when the region is subject to a heat warning or an extreme heat emergency, defined as follows:

  • A Stage 1 Heat Warning in our region is issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada and is triggered by two consecutive days with forecasted highs of 29C or higher, with an overnight low in between of 16C or higher.
  • A Stage 2 Extreme Heat Emergency may be declared when the heat warning criteria above have been met AND forecasted daily highs indicate a substantive increase day-over-day for three or more consecutive days and are likely to create a public health emergency.

For more information about cooling centres, including the locations of cooling spaces around the Comox Valley, please refer to the CVRD Cooling Spaces webpage.

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