MONTREAL — There’s no doubt the weather across much of Eastern Canada this week is very, very hot. But is the region experiencing a heat wave or a heat dome, and what is the difference between the two?

It depends on whom you ask.

While the term heat dome isn’t new, it gained prominence during the record-shattering June 2021 heat event over the Pacific Northwest. The B.C. provincial coroner’s service linked more than 600 deaths to the extreme heat, with 93 per cent of them occurring between June 25 and July 1.