Seniors, renters without AC most vulnerable during continuous heatwaves

This summer relentless heatwaves have pushed Ontario residents, particularly seniors and renters, into a struggle against the soaring temperatures, as many navigate the sweltering conditions without air conditioning.

Environment Canada has issued another heat warning for much of Ontario this weekend, the latest in a string of extreme heat alerts since May.

Toronto resident Lyba Spring, who is also a member of Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN), describes herself as “privileged” to live in a home with windows and some control over her environment. But even with those resources, she says some days are unbearable.

“I live in a house, although there's no air conditioning. I have windows that open, so I spend my day walking around, adjusting them depending on where the sun is. I also invested in blinds for the hottest rooms. But there were definitely days when I had no energy, no brains, no ability to function,” she told The Pointer.

“I don't recall having such long heat waves. If it was only a couple of days and it was a couple of days lost, but now it's more than a couple of days, so, yeah, definitely worse.”

In late June, the mercury soared to 36 degrees Celsius, while the humidex touched the high-40s. It was the hottest June 23 Toronto has ever experienced and the worst heat the city felt in a decade. 

Just weeks later, a second multi-day heatwave hit in late July, prompting Environment Canada to issue a heat warning for much of southern Ontario. Daytime highs of 30 to 34 degrees Celsius and humidex values between 36 and 42 pushed the limits of human comfort, with little overnight relief as temperatures hovered between 19 and 23 degrees while people tried to sleep. 

“We’ve had 22 days where the temperature’s been at or above 30 degrees Celsius, and 57 hours with a humidex over 40,” Environment Canada’s senior climatologist David Phillips said, describing conditions as “very oppressive.”

On June 26, Peel Region took a significant step toward addressing the health impacts of extreme heat by developing and sharing the Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI). This innovative tool maps heat vulnerability across each census tract in Peel, factoring in health status, exposure, and social determinants of health. The HVI reveals that while high heat vulnerability is present throughout the region, Mississauga and Brampton have more areas within the highest vulnerability quintile, likely influenced by the Urban Heat Island effect, compared to Caledon. Areas near the Credit River show lower vulnerability, thanks to tree canopy coverage, while social factors like income and living alone also affect vulnerability in other neighborhoods. By identifying these at-risk areas, Peel Public Health and its partners can better design targeted, equitable heat adaptation programs to protect vulnerable residents from heat-related illness and death.

(Region of Peel)

Niagara resident and senior Stella Hawke told The Pointer that even with air conditioning (AC), nighttime heat is still a struggle. 

Her solution? Cold water-filled hot-water bottles.

“I hold one to my chest, put another inside my pillowcase to soothe my head, wherever it feels good. You can even put them in the fridge if you want extra cold,” she said, noting she’s been sharing this trick with other seniors as the topic of heat relief has become a daily conversation.

Spring has chosen not to install air conditioning in her home, opting instead to wait until her current gas furnace reaches the end of its life so she can replace it with an energy-efficient heat pump that provides both heating and cooling.

“Installing an AC now would be an unnecessary energy suck, and I don’t want to go there.” 

“I’m aware of how my body reacts to heat. If I’m playing music outside and I feel it coming on, I know to drink water and dump some over my head to cool down. I don’t expect to get heat stroke in my house like someone in an apartment might. I can take a shower, use a ceiling fan, I have options. I’m far better off than many, especially seniors in high-rises without AC or people living on the street. Heat is a deadly threat for those who are unhoused.”

In 2024, more than 80,000 people in Ontario experienced homelessness, a staggering 25 percent increase since 2022, a recent report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) highlighted.

Without significant intervention, homelessness in Ontario could double in the next decade and reach nearly 300,000 people in an economic downturn. 

“The scope and scale of homelessness across Ontario’s municipalities is truly staggering,” AMO president Robin Jones said in a statement. 

“Without real and meaningful provincial action, the quality of life and economic prosperity of Ontario’s communities is at risk. We can solve this crisis, but we need to work together.”

Cold-related deaths have historically drawn concern. Toronto Public Health reported three hypothermia-related deaths between 2017 and mid-2021, advocates warn that extreme heat is now an equally urgent threat.

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report underscores the significant risks heat poses to global health and ecosystems. The decisions we make now will shape the climate for years to come, affecting not only future generations but also people living today.

(IPCC) 

As summers become longer and hotter, many unhoused people are left with no protection from dangerous temperatures, making access to cooling spaces and long-term housing a critical public health priority. 

In Peel, where shelter occupancy averaged 117 percent in 2023, advocates have been calling for immediate and expanded intervention is essential to prevent extreme weather from becoming a death sentence.

Seniors, both housed and unhoused, face heightened risks due to pre-existing health conditions, reduced mobility, and greater sensitivity to extreme temperatures. A recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows heat-related deaths among people aged 65 and over have surged by 85 percent since the 1990s. 

Projections indicate that heatwaves will become more intense, frequent, and persistent across nearly all regions, with scientists warning that the combination of extreme heat and humidity which limits the body’s ability to cool itself could lead to a 370 percent increase in annual heat-related deaths among older populations by 2050 if global temperatures rise by 2 degrees celsius.

(UNEP/FRONTIERS REPORT)

In GTA, extreme heat events were worsened by at least three air quality warnings this year due to wildfire smoke, compounding health risks, particularly for vulnerable populations like older adults, such as Spring and Hawke, who are especially susceptible to the growing impacts of climate change.

Views of the Mississauga skyline on two different days. The top is a clear, normal day. The bottom is the same view obscured by the smoke drifting over the GTA from wildfires burning in Quebec.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files) 

Spring recalled a recent incident during a performance with her percussion group in a public park in July. One of the members suffered a heat stroke and had to be taken away by medics.

Between June 22 and June 24, when the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was under a multi-day heat warning, Toronto Public Health recorded 42 emergency room visits due to heat-related illnesses.

In Peel Region, emergency departments reported 15 heat-related visits between May 1 and July 3, according to Ontario’s syndromic surveillance system. For comparison, over the five-year span from 2020 to 2024, Peel hospitals reported a total of 62 heat-related visits between May and September, with 30 heat warnings issued and 86 days under active alerts.

By July 7 this year, Peel had already seen 17 heat-related emergency visits and two heat warnings. Of those, 13 visits, 76.5 percent, occurred during or within two days after a heat warning, the highest proportion recorded in the past five years.

Many municipalities track heat-related ER visits but Ontario still does not record deaths caused by extreme heat.

“That’s something the province needs to change. We need to start tracking those deaths to truly understand the scale of the problem,” Corbin, a tenant organizer with the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, told The Pointer.

Corbin, who works closely with tenants facing precarious housing and health conditions, says many of the people he speaks to, particularly seniors, either don’t have air conditioning or have systems that fail during peak heat.

“They get delirious. They don’t know where to go for relief,” he said, noting the City of Toronto runs a cooling spaces program, but it’s often not a viable option. 

“They’re expected to spend the whole day at a library or mall. They can’t cook, they have to buy food, it’s a huge disruption to their lives just to stay cool.”

Cooling can save lives, but comes with an important caveat: it also drives up emissions. 

A recent report by energy think tank Ember found that extreme heat in the world’s largest electricity markets, India, China, and the U.S., caused surges in AC use, doubling electricity demand in some months and prompting increased coal and gas generation, which in turn drives emissions up.

Heat pumps are a highly efficient alternative to traditional heating and cooling systems because they move heat instead of generating it. In summer, they act like air conditioners by removing heat from inside your home. In winter, they reverse the process, drawing heat from the outside air, even when it’s cold, and bringing it indoors. Since they run on electricity and don’t rely on burning fossil fuels, they can significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions, especially when powered by renewable energy. There are two main types of heat pumps: air-source, which are the most common and easy to install, and ground-source (or geothermal), which use underground pipes to access the earth’s consistent temperature. While ground-source systems cost more upfront, they offer greater efficiency and long-term savings, especially in areas with extreme seasonal temperatures.

(Ontario Clean Air Alliance/Daikin)

There’s a solution for that, too! Experts point out one effective way to reduce emissions from traditional air conditioning is by using heat pumps, which are energy-efficient systems that both cool and heat spaces by transferring heat rather than generating it.

Last year was Earth’s hottest since records began, capping a decade of record-breaking heat. Canada was among the countries most affected; its average annual temperature has risen by 1.7°C since 1948, nearly twice the global average. Scientists point to rising carbon dioxide and methane emissions as the main driver of this warming trend.

(NASA)  

Globally, emissions remain stubbornly high, averaging 53 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, with no sign of peaking by 2025, jeopardizing the 1.5 degrees Celsius climate target. 

Experts say a more balanced approach is urgently needed, one that includes expanding green spaces and tree canopies to naturally cool urban areas and reduce dependence on energy-intensive cooling.

A 2017 Region of Peel study revealed that land use patterns are driving temperature differences across the region, with southern urban areas heating up much faster than the greener, rural north. The main culprit is the urban heat island effect, where dense development and dark surfaces absorb and retain heat, making cities significantly warmer than surrounding farmland, forests, and grasslands. From 1981 to 2010, average annual temperatures were consistently higher in southern Peel.

(Region of Peel)

In Canada and across most regions, people living alone or without home ownership are significantly less likely to have air conditioning. One especially heat-vulnerable group, older adults living alone, had notably lower AC access, with only 56 percent coverage compared to the national and Ontario averages of 81 percent, according to Statistics Canada.

Legal advocates and tenants’ rights experts say Ontario’s aging housing stock, systemic gaps and complex rental laws make cooling access a grey zone.

Mississauga Community Legal Services (MCLS) housing paralegal, Daniel Amsler, told The Pointer that large parts of Mississauga have old buildings that often lack adequate cooling, which creates serious problems.

In Toronto, Corbin recalled one of his visits to a downtown building from the late 1800s, lacking central AC but with central heating, which was especially affected during June’s heatwave. 

Tenants there were ineligible for the city’s pilot Air Conditioner Assistance Program for “low-income seniors with health-related needs”, which closed just before the heatwave began on June 22. “It was a lottery for 500 AC units, not even guaranteed, and it’s being installed now, after the worst of the heat,” he noted.

“Other cities, especially in the Golden Horseshoe, need to start offering programs like this. Seniors are the most at risk, and we need to make sure they’re safe.”

A second program exists for people on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) but requires a doctor’s prescription. “It’s targetted at people with conditions like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), severe asthma, or cancer, where heat makes breathing exponentially harder,” Corbin explained.

He recalled one tenant in her late 50s, “too young” for the seniors’ program, who has COPD and was struggling to breathe during the heat. She’s now trying to get a prescription to qualify for help through the ODSP route, but relief is far from immediate.

In recent years, many municipalities have rolled out adequate temperature bylaws to ensure safe indoor conditions for tenants.

In Toronto, landlords are legally obligated to maintain a minimum indoor temperature of 21 degrees Celsius in residential units from October 1 to May 15. For units where landlords provide air conditioning, the indoor temperature must not exceed 26 degrees Celsius between June 1 and September 30.

In 2018, the City of Mississauga introduced the Adequate Temperature By-Law to ensure buildings maintain safe and comfortable temperatures during extreme and fluctuating weather. 

The by-law was updated in 2020 requiring landlords to provide adequate heating, meaning the indoor temperature in a unit must be at least 20 degrees Celsius. It also mandates adequate cooling, ensuring that when a unit is equipped with air conditioning, the temperature does not exceed 26 degrees Celsius. 

“While that may sound reasonable, 26 degrees is quite warm, especially for elderly tenants or those with health issues,” Amsler said.

“With the current weather conditions, fans just blow hot, humid air around, which doesn’t help.”

Liability concerns add another layer of complexity. 

In 2019, a toddler tragically died after a heavy window air conditioner fell from the eighth floor of a Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) building near Lawrence Avenue East and Mossbank Drive. 

Amsler says the incident made some landlords, including those managing Peel Living’s affordable rental units, wary of allowing tenants to install window air conditioners themselves. Instead, they require installation by qualified technicians, a process that has caused difficulties for some tenants.

In some cases, landlords have provided portable room air conditioners, which offer limited relief but are generally less effective than standard window units.

For tenants in buildings not managed by Peel Living, or where landlords control air conditioning, the situation is often more complicated.

During a heatwave in July 2020, Premier Doug Ford promised to "rapidly" mandate air conditioning in all long-term care homes including residents’ rooms. Five years later, many still lack room-specific cooling, falling short of the original pledge.

(Doug Ford/X)

In 2023, Ontario passed Bill 97, the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, which amended the Residential Tenancies Act to include Section 36.1. This provision would let tenants install window or portable AC units, but only with written notice and adherence to safety, building codes, and bylaws.

Critically, landlords who cover electricity under a lease can increase rent to cover AC-related electricity costs. This increase isn’t bound by normal rent guidelines and must be reversed if the AC is removed.

Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario’s (ACTO) director of advocacy, Douglas Kwan, says Bill 97 “has a host of problems”, opening a legal grey area.

“Homeowners can install AC freely. Renters can’t. They're subject to restrictions, building limitations, and in many cases, can't control building-wide temperatures,” he explained. “If landlords provide AC, they must keep the indoor temperature below 26 degrees. But when no AC is provided, tenants are stuck.”

Bill 97 attempted to clarify AC installation rules, it placed financial responsibility squarely on tenants, creating a disincentive.

“It essentially breaks existing leases where utilities were included. Now tenants are being told if they add AC, they must pay more for electricity. That shifts responsibility away from landlords, who are legally required to maintain habitable units.” Kwan noted.

The law is also not yet in force, creating confusion. 

Amsler says some landlords falsely claim it is and tenants on long-term, leases may be pressured into paying these fees out of fear of eviction, despite such charges being illegal unless contested within one year.

“This often affects the most vulnerable tenants, who could otherwise spend the money on basic necessities like food…A lot of landlords are trying to squeeze money from tenants paying below-market rent or push them out altogether,” he said.

“Housing has become such a financial commodity, and some landlords, burdened by their own financial pressures, take it out on tenants, many of whom simply cannot afford it.”

Amsler recalled a case in which a long-term tenant was pressured to pay for air conditioning despite no legal requirement. The landlord took the matter to the Landlord and Tenant Board, and the outcome remains pending. If the tenant wins, the decision could set a critical precedent protecting others.

“I would like the government to make it clear that the landlord cannot unilaterally charge for an air conditioner, because an air conditioner is a basic need now,” he added.

Kwan called on the province to act decisively by mandating a maximum allowable indoor temperature, providing subsidies or free AC units to vulnerable renters, incentivizing landlords to upgrade cooling infrastructure without passing costs onto tenants, and strengthening enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with existing obligations.

“There are good examples we can follow,” he added, pointing to Dallas and Montgomery County, Maryland, where local governments have passed laws requiring landlords to maintain safe indoor temperatures and provide air conditioning.

Canadian municipalities are starting to step in where the province hasn’t. Hamilton and Toronto are both considering new bylaws; he commended the City of Toronto for distributing AC units to vulnerable residents this summer.

“When cities start taking action in an area that’s supposed to be under provincial jurisdiction, it shows just how badly the province is failing on this issue,” Kwan said.

Corbin, Amsler, and Kwan all emphasized the same point: air conditioning is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

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