Extreme heat is a growing health risk and many renters are paying the price. With no legal maximum temperature for rental units in Ontario, tenants are forced to endure dangerously hot apartments every summer, often exceeding 30°C.
Climate change is driving more frequent and intense heat waves, yet Ontario’s housing laws haven’t kept up.
It’s time for Ontario to act. Add your name to demand a maximum indoor temperature for rental units and the right for tenants to safely install air conditioning.
Sign the petition below or download a paper version.
To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
WHEREAS as the climate crisis deepens, we have a responsibility to take immediate action to ensure everyone lives in a safe and comfortable home;
WHEREAS in brutally hot weather, many Ontario renters are living in miserable and even dangerous
living conditions because their apartment is too hot and they don’t have air-conditioning;
WHEREAS the 2021 heatwave in British Columbia contributed to more than 600 deaths, many of the deceased were elderly or vulnerable and living alone in unairconditioned apartments.
WE, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:
- Establish a provincial maximum temperature to ensure rental units are safe, and a tenant’s right to reasonable enjoyment of their unit is maintained.
- Permit a tenant to safely install an air-conditioning unit, without additional charge
- Prohibiting rent increases for who install air conditioning.
- Upgrade Ontario’s building code and invest in a green job retrofit program to make housing greener and energy-efficient, including community housing and purpose-built rental buildings, while not burdening tenants with unfair rent hikes.
- Partner with municipalities to invest in urban forests and gardens to reduce the heat island effect and lower temperatures in towns and cities.