Henstra cowrote a study published last month that grabbed headlines when it showed that many cities across the country are ill-prepared for the challenges of climate change. The study looked at the 100 biggest cities in the country, and found that one-third didn’t even have any sort of a plan.

Waterloo Region’s plan was ranked second-best in Canada but like most municipal plans, it focused more on reducing the emissions that cause climate change. Cities need to also plan on how they’ll adapt to climate change, Henstra said.

“We need to do both,” he said. “Even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions, a certain level of climate change is inevitable.”

The region’s adaptation plan will look at how climate change will affect the broader community and how to cope with increased floods, heat waves, droughts and ice storms. City plans look at what each city needs to do to ensure services and infrastructure — from bridges to parks — carry on even in extreme weather.

Climate change “is all-encompassing,” said Robyn McMullen, who is working on the City of Waterloo’s plan. “It has the potential to impact the city across the board.”

The region has been working for the past three years on its plan. It’s taken that long because there are so many different players, from the Grand River Conservation Authority, local utilities, to agencies that work with vulnerable populations.

It requires everything from updating flood maps to making sure crucial infrastructure like hospital generators aren’t vulnerable to flooding. It also involves pinpointing which populations are most vulnerable: the poor, the isolated, the elderly. When a heat wave hit Montreal last July, as many as 70 people died — almost all were older and lived alone.

The plan will then come up with ways to address those gaps, often by looking at what has worked elsewhere. Peterborough, for instance, has created a network where neighbours check on vulnerable people — a system that can have wider reach and be much cheaper than having firefighters go door-to-door in a heat wave.

Waterloo Region is lucky, Roewade said, because it has a lot of what’s needed to adapt to crises: a diverse economy, relative affluence and a variety of government and community agencies.

Adapting to climate change can be very expensive, Henstra says. Stormwater pipes built based on historic experience, and may not be able to handle the extreme flooding that climate change brings. The solution is either to refit existing pipes with bigger ones — a very costly solution — or to encourage businesses and homeowners to capture storm runoff before it hits the pipes, with things like permeable pavements, green roofs and rain gardens.

Kitchener aims to embed climate change concerns into every city project, whether it’s a planning matter or the design of a new playground, said Claire Bennett, Kitchener’s sustainability officer.

It’s a huge undertaking, she said. “It’s massive. Kitchener is a decent-sized city. We’re considering (climate impacts on) parks, trails, trees, sidewalks, sewers. Everything needs to be taken into consideration.”

The best plans, Henstra said, will have broad consultations with key players and with the public, which allows for expert input and gets public buy-in. “Engaging the public is important because ultimately these plans are going to lead to impacts on their community life.”

Also vital is regular monitoring to make sure municipalities carry out the actions set out in the plan, Henstra said.

“Is it a quick fix? Absolutely not,” says Roewade. “There’s a lot of work to do.”