Tenants are pointing out this hypocrisy in Canada’s approach to housing: subsidizing provinces and municipalities without conditions to fund unaffordable private housing developments, while allowing them to destroy existing affordable housing.
With high temperatures draping a blanket over Hamilton of late, one of the hottest issues in town remains a proposed bylaw that could reshape how renters beat the heat.
However, it will likely be another long, hot summer without much movement on the matter.
The city confirmed Friday that staff will ask for an extension on a reporting deadline related to the bylaw, moving it to Sept. 29. The request is expected at the next planning committee meeting.
The long-awaited bylaw could one day require landlords to ensure all units remain habitable during extreme heat — regardless of whether cooling was included in a rental agreement.
Ontario landlords are required to keep tenants warm in the winter. Ottawa Centre MPP Catherine McKenney says it’s time the province offered the same protection from extreme heat in the summer.
McKenney has introduced a private member’s bill that would require Ontario landlords to keep rental units at or below 26 C during the summer months by adding cooling to the definition of a vital service under the Residential Tenancies Act.
The proposal comes as climate change drives hotter summers and more frequent heat waves, raising concerns about residents living in apartments without air conditioning.
Lindsay Eagleson was thrilled to find a newly renovated apartment in Halifax after living in her car for 10 days.
But before she moved her belongings into the building in the Cowie Hill neighbourhood a couple months ago, she realized there was an issue.
“I noticed a bunch of cockroaches in the kitchen and at first I had no idea what they were and I was just kind of shocked,” said Eagleson.
She was alarmed to find out from online reviews and other residents that the building was known to have a cockroach and mouse infestation.
“My heart dropped … I had just finished living in my car and I moved into this apartment and I was really excited to kind of have a fresh start.”
But the problem isn’t limited to Eagleson’s apartment building.
Sleepless nights, shortness of breath and lightheadedness.
While many Torontonians look forward to summer temperatures, for others, the heat comes with real life consequences.
Beena Ruparelia said temperatures can reach up to a sweltering 30 C inside her two-storey north Etobicoke townhouse on a hot summer day.
She and her husband Peter Ruparelia have lived at the home near Martin Grove and Albion roads for 11 years, which they rent from Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT), a large property management company.
Beena told TorontoToday the sweltering heat inside her home is “unbearable,” making it difficult to do day-to-day activities, like cooking a meal.
When Debbie Staples was told she might have to leave the apartment she has lived in for nearly 20 years, she tried to imagine what might come next. “Is the postman going to deliver the mail to my car?” she recalls thinking. “Because that’s where I’d be living.”
Ottawa doesn’t just have a housing shortage. It has a housing logjam.
It’s a problem across the board, but it shows up especially clearly among seniors. Many who might otherwise move — because their homes are larger than they need, for example — are staying put, not because they want to, but because there’s nowhere obvious to go, particularly if they’re reaching an age where they need some supports. Downsizing is one thing. Leaving behind a neighbourhood — and the community that comes with it — is another. Others don’t have the luxury of staying. Older renters on fixed or limited incomes are increasingly being pushed out by rising rents or renovictions, only to find that what comes next is far more expensive, and often out of reach.
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