What to know
- Toronto City Council approved a motion to fast-track a maximum temperature bylaw, with a final version expected by June 2027.
- The bylaw would require all rental units to stay below 26ºC, including buildings that currently do not have air conditioning.
- Coun. Josh Matlow has been advocating for the measure since 2012, criticizing repeated delays from city staff.
- The city already requires landlords to maintain a minimum indoor temperature in winter, but no universal maximum temperature currently exists for rental units.
Toronto City Council has approved a plan to implement a maximum temperature bylaw by next summer, after a councillor pushed to expedite it.
Coun. Josh Matlow initially moved a motion for the city to establish a maximum room temperature guideline for tenants back in 2012. But since then, the plan has been delayed several times.
Earlier this week, the city released a framework for the implementation of the bylaw, which included a wait time of another two and a half years, with staff proposing final bylaw options be relayed back to the council in the third quarter of 2028.
At the time, Matlow criticized the plan, which would delay the bylaw significantly, once more.
“I am very disappointed with the city staff report released today…This framework has a 2.5 year timeline, which does not start until after the election this fall, and which ends with only a report on “options” – not a by-law. This extraordinary delay is unacceptable and unjustifiable,” he wrote on X.
Bylaw to be implemented next summer after delays
According to the councillor, his office then approached Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s office to come up with a plan to expedite the implementation of the bylaw.
A plan to expedite the framework was approved by city council on Thursday, which Matlow credits to a combination of motions along with advocacy from local organizations, including the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations and ACORN.
“What tenants haven’t had until now is a feeling like City Hall has had their back, and I’ve just made it very clear to the mayor and council that this has to be a priority, this has to be acted on. No more delays, no more dragging the puck,” Matlow told Now Toronto.
Under the newly-approved plan, the City Manager will deliver the bylaw to be approved by City Council by June 2027, with an implementation plan.
What is the maximum temperature bylaw?
The city already has rules determining landlords must turn on the heat during the colder months to maintain temperatures to a minimum of 21ºC. It also establishes that apartments that have air conditioning should not be under 26ºC between June 1 to Sep. 30.
The maximum temperature bylaw currently in the process of being approved by the council would determine that all rental rooms need to be under 26ºC, even the ones that currently don’t have air conditioning.
With summers getting hotter in the city, Matlow says the bylaw is needed to ensure the health and safety of Toronto renters.
“There are far too many rental buildings in Toronto that are without air conditioning and we’re seeing more and more that tenants are left in conditions that are unhealthy and unsafe,” Matlow told Now Toronto.
“I’ve been in apartments where the temperature has gone into the 30s, and people are boiling in their homes. I’ve sat with seniors and other vulnerable residents who are living in conditions that no one should be left in.”
Why had it been delayed?
Matlow said the motion was delayed several times after staff raised different concerns regarding its implementation.
“The city staff have always raised [concerns] rather than provide solutions to the question of a maximum temperature bylaw, and every year there seems to be a different one,” he said, adding that the most recent concern raised was whether tenants would be required to pay the costs if their landlord was required to install an air conditioner.
“But what we’re hearing from tenants is: first of all, those landlords are already passing on costs to them for things like balcony repairs or garage membrane membrane improvements,” he said. “If there’s anything that tenants are willing to help pay for it’s air conditioning where there is none, because it would be more expensive for them to leave their homes.”
Despite the many years of delays, the councillor said he is now hopeful the city will finally take active steps to implement the bylaw.
“I’m feeling far more hopeful now that we’ve arrived at this place, because this is about renters’ health and safety, and nothing is more important than that,” he added.
