City councillor putting the heat on landlords with push for temperature-control measures

The push comes after the city received complaints from some tenants who said their landlords forced them to ditch their air conditioners.

Thestar.com
Sept. 10, 2015
By Tara Deschamps

Councillor Mary Fragedakis is putting the heat on property owners to cool down their buildings after a few months of sweltering weather.

Among the measures the Toronto-Danforth councillor said the city should be looking at a firmer maximum-temperature bylaw and encouraging landlords to implement green roofs and on-site cooling centres for apartment and condo buildings.

Her recommendations came after her office waded through a steady stream of complaints from tenants concerned about their buildings’ temperatures. Some claimed they were instructed by their landlords to ditch their window air-conditioning units - a request Fragedakis says is unlawful unless the units are at risk of falling.

“They don’t want to pay the electricity so they want the units removed,” she said of the apartment and condo owners. “It’s a serious issue and there is lots that we could be doing.”

Currently, she said, newer buildings with central air conditioning must remain at or below 26 C, but older structures without the systems are exempt from that bylaw.

Some have coped with keeping temperatures moderate by painting building roofs white to retract heat, while others have turned to increased ventilation as a problem solver.

Geordie Dent, the executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, is no stranger to hearing from tenants living “in a nightmare scenario.”

Some tell him they have to almost exclusively wear shorts and a tank top in the warm months to make their units bearable, while others talk of tussles with their landlords over ventilation systems.

During the last few months temperature-related complaints, said Dent, amounted to hundreds of calls this summer and thousands over the past few years.

“In the cases I am listening to there is a lot of illegal activity with landlords,” he said. “People have died in the past due to heat waves ... tenants just want something that is not boiling.”

Though cooler weather is on its way offering a reprieve, Fragedakis said tenants will still have to wait for a long-term fix, which could come after the city releases a report on the potential for a maximum-temperature bylaw later this year.