To cool off her scorching apartment, Mazur had to run her air conditioner. This pulled in smoky air, which triggered her asthma and forced her to use her inhaler.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She began refilling her prescription more often, worried she might run out, and checking the air quality index daily before leaving her home. The anxiety and stress of her hypervigilance invaded her sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d have a dream where I\u2019m having trouble breathing,\u201d she said in an interview with The Narwhal. In her dream, she reaches for her inhaler, but it doesn\u2019t function. Then she wakes up. \u201cThere was more of that last summer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Chelsea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Submitted-Chelsea-Mazur-01-WEB-800x1066.jpeg\"\/)
More than five million Canadians live with respiratory conditions, including Winnipeger Chelsea Mazur. As climate change makes wildfire seasons worse and smoky skies more common, many of these people pay the price with their lungs. Photo: Supplied by Chelsea Mazur<\/p>\n
Mazur, who works as a digital content specialist at the University of Manitoba, said she knows wildfires are becoming more frequent and more intense<\/a> due to climate change, which is being driven by carbon pollution from fossil fuel use. She considers herself lucky she can access medicine for her asthma, but fears what the future may hold as the planet continues to heat up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me worry about when I\u2019m older, in my 60s and 70s. What\u2019s it going to be like then to have asthma?\u201d she said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the air quality going to be like, and how is it going to affect me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n More than five million Canadians<\/a>, like Mazur, live with respiratory conditions. As climate change makes wildfire seasons worse, many of them pay the price with their lungs.<\/p>\n Smoke days were responsible for up to a 23.6 per cent<\/a> increase in asthma-related hospital emergency visits in Ontario in 2023, according to research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Almost all respondents to a 2025 Asthma Canada survey reported worsening asthma symptoms<\/a> with poor air quality, and most also reported a decline in their mental health.<\/p>\n Smoke from wildfires is a form of air pollution, carrying toxic gases<\/a> like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as fine particulate matter.\u00a0Other sources of air pollution, from car and truck exhaust to power plants and oil and gas facilities, are also hazardous to our health.<\/p>\n Air pollution can cause heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases and cancer<\/a>, the World Health Organization notes. Federal research has found it contributes to about 17,400 premature deaths each year<\/a> in Canada. In B.C., a nine-year-old died<\/a> in 2023 after an asthma attack was made worse by wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s just one health impact of pollution and extreme weather. People exposed to air pollution also have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a>, according to a study in the journal PLOS Medicine. Doctors and counsellors across Canada note that conditions from poor mental health to Lyme disease to detached retinas can be linked to the effects of a warming world.<\/p>\n When Canadians talk about affordability, the discussion often revolves around the cost of fuel<\/a>. While we pay for gasoline and diesel with our credit cards<\/a>, in study after study, scientists have shown we also pay with our bodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n In broad terms, it\u2019s possible to juxtapose the economic output of fossil fuels with health costs. The federal energy regulator, for example, has reported the total value of crude oil exports from Canada was $138 billion<\/a> in 2024. A Health Canada report that same year found the total cost of health impacts attributable to air pollution in 2018 was $146 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n But in other ways, it\u2019s tough to quantify how much fossil fuels and climate change are costing Canadians and our health-care systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s a perpetual ripple effect of consequences that often go unaccounted for, Ottawa physician Helen Hsu said. Hsu specializes in addiction and mental health and is a spokesperson for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.<\/p>\n The indirect costs of climate change show up in things like premature deaths, she said, or the number of days people are sick and can\u2019t work \u2014 which also brings a financial cost for businesses, though she\u2019d rather not focus on that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels a bit ghoulish to say, \u2018Well, how much do you contribute to our economy?\u2019 \u201d Hsu said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think certainly we do pay with our bodies, and we need to start really thinking about that.\u201d<\/p>\n This is part of Who Pays?<\/a>, a series at The Narwhal looking at the intersection of the environment and the economy<\/p>\n Alex Goatcher paid for B.C.\u2019s 2021 heat dome and wildfires in terms of both physical and mental health, he told The Narwhal in an interview. That year a high-pressure system trapped heat on the ground, like an oven. It led to 619 deaths<\/a>. Scientists have connected<\/a> the severity of the wildfires and heat during this time to climate change.<\/p>\n Goatcher is a\u00a0visitor services worker for Parks Canada and was living in Field, B.C., and working at Yoho National Park when the heat and fires trapped him inside for weeks.<\/p>\n He said he loves hiking on his days off, but couldn\u2019t venture outside due to his asthma. Air conditioners were uncommon in the area until recently, he said, so he didn\u2019t have one at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing stuck inside during the prime of summer, with it being scorching hot and the smoke, it really negatively affected my mental health, to the point that I noticed my interactions with my neighbours were more hostile,\u201d Goatcher said.<\/p>\n Adding to Goatcher\u2019s frustration was the way his asthma disrupted not just his immediate work, but his long-term career prospects. His supervisor, concerned for his health, ended up grounding Goatcher during the heat dome when other staff were sent out. He was also forced to turn down an internal job opportunity because it would have involved working outdoors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt never crossed my mind about the smoke and the fires and all that,\u201d he said. \u201cI never thought that this would be any sort of thing I\u2019d have to really deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n M\u00e9tis sociologist Trisha McOrmond is on the national council of the volunteer climate action network For Our Kids. She uses her training in trauma-informed coaching when broaching the topic of climate change with people who are more vulnerable to extreme weather, including those who work outdoors in jobs like construction or farming.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a level of frustration, and almost like a compartmentalization,\u201d she said \u2014 a defence mechanism people use to avoid confronting the stress of knowing they will have to deal with more climate-change consequences at their job. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for them to open up and have those conversations, because they have to put it away.\u201d<\/p>\n She said it\u2019s a challenge to put a specific dollar figure on the mental-health impacts of evacuations or other climate-related personal emergencies, because they can appear years after specific events and seem disconnected.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not showing up by people saying, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m worried about climate change.\u2019 It\u2019s showing up as disengagement at work, it\u2019s showing up as [fatigue and burnout]. It\u2019s showing up as increased domestic violence and interpersonal violence,\u201d McOrmond said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t see the cost directly, because we don\u2019t have a system that measures those costs. And since we don\u2019t measure them, we don\u2019t see them.\u201d<\/p>\n Most Canadians have come to understand how some unhealthy behaviours are connected to their health \u2014 like how smoking cigarettes increases their risk of lung cancer. But many still don\u2019t see the associations between fossil fuel use, climate change and health impacts, Doris Grinspun, the chief executive officer of the Registered Nurses\u2019 Association of Ontario, said in an interview.<\/p>\n This is especially true for work days lost to climate-linked health problems, Grinspun said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think people really are connecting the dots,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen more pipelines get built, or we will not put an end to fossil fuels, we don\u2019t say what the consequences will be, in human life, in disease, in death and in debt. We are already paying for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Those costs manifest in ways we may not recognize \u2014 like our vision.<\/p>\n Particulate matter, certain gases and other pollutants hurt our eyes as well as our lungs, Montreal ophthalmologist\u00a0 Marie-Claude Robert said. Research has connected<\/a> higher levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide with more hospital emergency department visits for conjunctivitis, or pink eye.<\/p>\n Other research has suggested a link between heat waves and an increased risk of retinal detachment<\/a>, which can cause flashes of light and dark spots in vision, as well as blindness if left untreated.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my personal practice, when we had heavy smog in Montreal from wildfires out west or up north, a lot of our patients would come in with acute worsening of their symptoms from that poor air quality,\u201d Robert, who represents the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, said.<\/p>\n There are a limited amount of treatments for these symptoms, and each one comes with costs. High-quality artificial tears, for example, can cost up to $30 a bottle and are usually not covered by insurance, she said.<\/p>\n Climate change is also increasing the risk of Lyme disease<\/a>, as ticks spread into more locations and last longer each season. That disease can lead to chronic disabilities<\/a> that can remove someone from the workforce, Hsu, the Ottawa physician, said. She\u2019s personally seen a middle-aged man with no pre-existing medical conditions who contracted a tick-borne illness and became paralyzed for months.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n Hidden costs also fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, those with pre-existing disabilities and pregnant women, Hsu said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Heat can trigger premature labour, and keeping preterm babies alive is very expensive for the health-care system. It\u2019s also emotionally and financially difficult for parents \u2014 premature birth is the leading cause of mortality in infants<\/a> in Canada, and those that survive can have lifelong respiratory issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Climate change-related health costs also show up for those who live in remote regions, including First Nations who have to be evacuated from wildfires in their territories, and Inuit whose lands are warming faster than the rest of the world.<\/p>\n And the financially vulnerable are least able to afford measures to protect themselves, like air conditioners or air purifiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hsu said one of her patients is paralyzed from the neck down and can\u2019t afford air conditioning. During heat waves, he often passes out.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just living in a state of suffering every summer, and it\u2019s incredibly unfair. It\u2019s wrong that we\u2019re asking those who are most vulnerable in our society to pay that cost,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For Melanie Hoffman, a school board trustee and community organizer from Edmonton, the emotional toll and financial costs of climate change are front and centre.<\/p>\n As an infant, Hoffman\u2019s now eight-year-old daughter contracted a virus that infects the respiratory tract and had to be hospitalized, eventually requiring airway reconstruction surgery, she said. As a result, she pays close attention to air quality.<\/p>\n A few summers ago, when the city was engulfed in wildfire smoke, Hoffman realized her daughter\u2019s outdoor-focused camp didn\u2019t have guidelines in place for how to accommodate smoke days by bringing the kids inside.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt really concerned for my daughter\u2019s health, but also for the youth that were running the camp. This was their summer job, and they were required to be outside. They weren\u2019t given the tools to manage that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She and her husband had to solve the logistical problem of who could take time off work to keep their daughter home. She understands that this is a privilege.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf your kids need you home, if you\u2019re self employed, you\u2019re going to pay for that in lost revenue. And if you don\u2019t have benefits from your employer, you\u2019re going to pay in lost days of work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Just as difficult was navigating the tension between wanting her to be able to go to the camp and the uncertainty about exactly how harmful the long-term consequences of exposure can be.<\/p>\n \u201cI had not processed for myself the fact that these are the rest of the summers of my daughter\u2019s life. Growing up, certainly in her youth, she is not going to know a summer that isn\u2019t in a changing climate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Hoffman holds a PhD in chemistry, is the former program manager for Capital Region EcoSchools with the Alberta Council for Environmental Education and volunteers with the Climate Reality Project Canada. She knows science-based climate solutions<\/a>, like transitioning to renewable energy sources, using heat pumps and improving public transit, work. But, she said, there\u2019s \u201can issue of political will and cultural inertia.\u201d<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MB_Wildfire_Aerial_Supplied_290525-1024x751.jpg\"\/)
The province of Manitoba experienced a devastating wildfire season in 2025. Photo: Government of Manitoba<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CP-Edmonton-Wildfire-Smoke-2024-WEB-1-1024x665.jpg\"\/)
Wildfire smoke has blanketed many Canadian cities in recent years, including Edmonton, seen here in 2024. Smoke days were responsible for a 23.6 per cent increase in asthma-related hospital emergency visits in 2023, according to one study. Photo: Jason Franson \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/winnipeg-daily-avg-pm25-summer-2025-1.jpg\"\/)
In 2025, Winnipeg experienced 18 days where air pollution exceeded federal limits, an increase from four in 2024 and nine in 2023. Source: Open Meteo. Data analysis: Julia-Simone Rutgers \/ The Narwhal. Visualization: Andrew Munroe \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wp-bg-1024x576.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Submitted-Alex-Goatcher-01-WEB-1024x1365.jpg\"\/)
The outdoors are important to Alex Goatcher; he works at Parks Canada and loves hiking on his days off. In 2021, heat and wildfires exacerbated his asthma, trapping him inside for weeks. \u201cIt really negatively affected my mental health,\u201d he said. Photo: Supplied by Alex Goatcher<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Submitted-Trisha-McOrmond-01-WEB-1024x1365.jpg\"\/)
Sociologist Trisha McOrmond said it\u2019s a challenge to quantify the mental-health impacts of climate change. But that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not real. \u201cWe don\u2019t see the cost directly,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause we don\u2019t have a system that measures those costs.\u201d Photo: Supplied by Trisha McOrmond<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Submitted-Marie-Claude-Robert-01-WEB-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Montreal ophthalmologist\u00a0Marie-Claude Robert said her patients experience worse symptoms when smog rolls over the city. Photo: Supplied by Marie-Claude Robert<\/p>\n![\"Volunteers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CP-Water-Toronto-Heatwave-Burston-WEB-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
When heat waves hit, the financially vulnerable \u2014\u00a0who might lack access to air conditioning or drinking water \u2014\u00a0are often the ones who suffer the most. Photo: Cole Burston \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ON-Smoky-Frisbee-Peterborough-Dickie2679-WEB-1024x682.jpg\"\/)
As air pollution becomes a greater concern, Canadians are forced to weigh the risks of outdoor exertion under smoky skies. Photo: Bryan Dickie \/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n