Key Takeaways:
- Misinformation and conspiracy theories can spread quickly during crises, leading to delayed evacuations and reduced compliance with emergency warnings
- Climate misinformation is becoming a public-safety threat in Canada, eroding trust in institutions and undermining response capacity
- Proactive preparedness and systemic planning are necessary to tackle misinformation and strengthen public trust
- Canada needs to shift from reactive correction to proactive preparedness, using modern communication systems and partnering with trusted messengers
- Climate resilience depends on both physical systems and public trust in emergency warnings
Introduction to the Problem
When a crisis strikes, rumors and conspiracy theories often spread faster than emergency officials can respond and issue corrections. In Canada, social media posts have falsely claimed wildfires were intentionally set, that evacuation orders were government overreach, or that smoke maps were being manipulated. This misinformation has directly shaped how Canadians responded to real danger, delaying evacuations and fragmenting compliance. As a result, the state’s ability to protect lives and critical infrastructure is reduced, and misinformation becomes a national security risk. Emergency response systems depend on public trust to function, and when that trust erodes, response capacity weakens, and preventable harm increases.
The Impact of Misinformation
Canada is entering an era where climate misinformation is becoming a public-safety threat. As wildfires, floods, and droughts grow more frequent, emergency systems rely on one fragile assumption: that people believe the information they receive. When that assumption fails, the entire chain of crisis communication begins to break down. This dynamic extends far beyond acute disasters, affecting long-running climate policy and adaptation efforts. When trust in institutions erodes, and misinformation becomes easier to absorb than scientific evidence, public support for proactive climate action collapses. Recent research shows that people often rely on lived experiences, memories, identity, and social and institutional cues to decide whether they are experiencing a drought, even when official information suggests otherwise.
Tackling Misinformation
Canada has invested billions of dollars in physical resiliency, firefighting capacity, flood resiliency, and energy reliability. The Canadian government has also joined the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change to investigate false narratives and strengthen response capacity. However, Canada still approaches misinformation as secondary rather than a key component of climate-risk management. Responsibility for effective messaging is fragmented across public safety, environment, emergency management, and digital policy, with no single entity accountable for monitoring, anticipating, or responding to information threats during crises. This fragmentation leads to slower response, weaker coordination, and greater risk to public safety. Canada also relies heavily on outdated communication mediums like radio, TV, and static government websites, while climate misinformation is optimized for the social-media environment.
The Need for Proactive Preparedness
Canada needs to shift from reactive correction to proactive preparedness. With wildfire season only months ahead, this is the window when preparation matters most. Waiting for the next crisis to expose the same weaknesses is not resilience, but repetition. Proactive public preparedness requires federal and provincial emergency agencies to treat public understanding of alerts, evacuation systems, and climate risks as a standing responsibility, not an emergency add-on. This information must be communicated well before disaster strikes, through the platforms people actually use, with clear expectations about where authoritative information will come from. Institutional coordination, partnerships with trusted messengers, and modern communication systems are also essential for tackling misinformation and strengthening public trust.
Building Trust and Resilience
Trust cannot be built in the middle of a crisis; it is long-term public infrastructure that must be maintained through transparency, consistency, and modern communication systems before disasters occur. Canada needs to formalize relationships with community leaders, educators, health professionals, and local organizations, who often have more credibility than institutions during crises. These partnerships can help counter false claims and promote authoritative information. By taking proactive steps to tackle misinformation and strengthen public trust, Canada can reduce the risk of preventable harm and build resilience in the face of climate-related disasters. Climate resilience is not only about physical systems; it is also about whether people believe the warnings meant to protect them. Canada’s long-term security depends on taking that reality seriously.
