Press Hits

A Canadian tenant advocacy group says nearly half the renters they surveyed don’t have air conditioning, as they press for protections from climate-fuelled extreme heat. A report released by ACORN Canada says affordability was cited as the main barrier to access among the 44 per cent of surveyed tenants who don’t have air conditioning. The group says it collected more than 700 responses to the online survey, which was sent to its database of members and tenant contacts. The report says just over half of respondents, mostly low- and middle-income renters, identified excessive summer heat as a top maintenance issue for their unit. ACORN Canada has been pushing cities to bring in bylaws that would require landlords to keep their units below a maximum temperature threshold, similar to how they have to keep it heated when it’s cold. “The weather and climate is changing and so we need to be prepared. We need to have an apartment that is healthy,” said Alejandra Ruiz Vargas, the group’s national president.

Economic justice advocates protested energy costs and unsafe living conditions in B.C. and across Canada this week as hot summer months approach. A new national report by ACORN Canada shows that 44 per cent of low- and moderate-income tenants lack access to air conditioning, with the cost of energy being named as the primary cause. The report comes as B.C.’s South Coast experienced temperatures as high as 30 degrees on Wednesday. BC ACORN is calling on BC Hydro to cut red tape limiting who can access its free portable air conditioner program. “If they just go back to what they had and say a landlord should not be the person that permits somebody to have a healthy home where the temperature can be livable for them,” said Monica Bhandari, chair of the New Westminster ACORN chapter.

A Hamilton tenant says she’s impressed with a “fantastic” judge’s recent decision to fine her former landlord $100,000 for illegally renovicting her and three other tenants, even if they’ll never get their homes back. “That’s a good place to start to show the landlords of Ontario they can’t just throw their tenants out,” Darlene Wesley told CBC Hamilton. She said she left her place in 2023 thinking she’d definitely be coming back as she took all the steps she was supposed to. She joined tenant advocacy group ACORN, which supported her throughout the process.

About 44 per cent of low- and moderate-income tenants in Canada lack access to air conditioning, according to a new survey, with cost cited as the most common barrier. National tenant union ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) published the report “Crumbling Apartments in a Warming World: Tenants in an Energy Cost Crisis” on Wednesday, based on a survey of 737 renters across the country. According to the report, 46 per cent of respondents who didn’t have air conditioning said they didn’t have it because it is too expensive. Christena Abbott, an East York ACORN leader, said seniors are often the most vulnerable to heat-related issues as they may have health issues but also limitations of a fixed income. “They consider air conditioning a luxury,” she said. ACORN said it is calling for national standards on cooling access and heat bylaws. It also believes there should be energy poverty programs — such as ones to provide financial support toward some renters’ hydro bills — and retrofit accountability.

It’s going to be brief, but a hot one is on the cards for much of B.C. on Wednesday. That is the warning from Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon, who said most of the province will experience temperatures 5 C to 12 C above normal — though the forecaster says the temperatures will not be completely unseasonable. Monica Bhandari with ACORN Canada, an organization which advocates for low-income people, said that even though the hot temperatures are in the forecast for one day, it’s important to check on vulnerable residents to make sure they are cool and hydrated. “Check on your neighbours, especially if they fall into those vulnerable categories where they are elderly or they have some mobile challenges,” Bhandari said.

A new national report by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) finds that 44 per cent of low- and moderate-income tenants across the country do not have access to air conditioning, with most citing affordability as the main barrier. Based on a survey of 750 tenants, more than half of respondents identified extreme summer heat as the most serious issue in their buildings, while only 19 per cent said they had received any energy efficiency upgrades. Of those who did, one-third reported a rent increase following the improvements — reinforcing concerns, says Ottawa ACORN board member Eddy Roue, that climate retrofits are being used to justify unaffordable rent hikes.