End Homelessness Winnipeg Releases 2026 Extreme Summer Weather Response Guide

July 2, 2026

End Homelessness Winnipeg has released the 2026 Extreme Weather Summer Response Guide to help community members, direct service providers, outreach teams, health partners, businesses, and residents connect people to critical supports during periods of extreme heat.

The guide brings key summer weather response information into one accessible resource. It includes mobile outreach services, overnight shelters and safe spaces, day drop-ins, food and washroom access, hydration stations, community cooling spaces, City facilities, signs of heat illness, and emergency guidance.

Extreme heat can create serious health risks for people who are unsheltered, isolated, medically vulnerable, or without reliable access to shade, water, washrooms, and cool indoor spaces. The guide is intended to support faster referrals, improve public awareness, and strengthen coordination across Winnipeg's homelessness-serving sector during summer weather events.

"Extreme heat is not only a weather issue. It is a housing and health issue," said Jennifer Moore Rattray, Chief Executive Officer of End Homelessness Winnipeg. "This guide gives people practical information they can use right away. It helps direct service providers, outreach teams, community members, and neighbours know where to turn when someone needs water, a place to cool down, a safe overnight space, or emergency help."

"The guide serves as a practical navigation tool for summer weather response," said Jamil Mahmood, Executive Director of Main Street Project and lead of the Homelessness Emergency Response Committee. "It helps unsheltered community members, partners, and neighbours quickly identify where people can access water, cooling spaces, shelter, and urgent support when conditions become unsafe."

The Extreme Weather Summer Response Guide also includes information on heat illness, including early warning signs such as extreme thirst, headaches, muscle cramps, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and rapid breathing. If someone shows signs of heat stroke, 9-1-1 should be called immediately.

End Homelessness Winnipeg thanks the Homelessness Emergency Response Committee and the many community partners, service organizations, municipal and provincial partners, Indigenous organizations and lived experience contributors who make coordinated emergency response possible.

The public is encouraged to download, print, post, and share the guide, especially with people who may not have easy access to digital information.

For current community resource information, residents can also call 2-1-1. The service is free, confidential, and available in more than 150 languages.

The 2026 Extreme Summer Weather Response Guide is available on the End Homelessness Winnipeg website.

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Media inquiries:

Oraye St. Franklyn

Manager, Communications and Community Relations
End Homelessness Winnipeg
ofranklyn@endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca

About End Homelessness Winnipeg
End Homelessness Winnipeg is an Indigenous organization that supports the whole community. We work with partners across the homelessness-serving sector to strengthen coordination, data, funding, system planning, and community relationships, with the goal of ending chronic houselessness in Winnipeg.

 

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