Warm weather in Toronto this week broke records for April temperatures yet the overnight heat waves found some residents experiencing uncomfortable humidity as a result of no air conditioning in their homes.
The city experienced summer-like temperatures that soared beyond 25 C throughout the Greater Toronto Area, reaching highs that haven’t been seen, around this time of year, in over 50 years.
Environment Canada issued an air quality statement on Apr.14, detailing that moderate to high risk warm temperatures in Toronto may lead to some experiencing symptoms including coughing and throat irritation.
Some residents living in condominiums and apartments were affected by the hot weather as Toronto landlords are not required to provide air conditioning to tenants but only heat at a minimum of 21 C in colder months.
Landlords are also not required to turn cooling on in buildings that are well-equipped with air conditioning until June.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), 2006, regulations “do not include air conditioning as a vital service. Only housing that has central air conditioning may be required by the municipality to maintain a maximum temperature of not more than 26°C between June and September,” a statement by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) says.
In Toronto, it’s reported that 500,000 residents are living in condominiums or apartments without air conditioning.
However, tenants are welcome to install air conditioning units at their own cost, in recent legislation by the province.
On Aug. 19, 2022, the OHRC declared cooling under extreme heat waves a human rights issue and called the Government of Ontario “to include air conditioning as a vital service, like the provision of heat, under RTA regulations and to establish a provincial maximum temperature to make sure that vulnerable Code-protected tenants are protected against threats of eviction for using safely installed air conditioning units.”
Some Torontonians are sharing mixed opinions on air conditioning in apartments and condos in warmer temperatures across the city.
One Twitter user asks mayoral candidate Chloe Brown if she would fix this issue if elected as Toronto’s new mayor.
