Maximum indoor heat bylaw wanted to protect seniors, vulnerable Oshawa residents

Minimum temperature bylaws are the rule across the country to ensure tenants have sufficient heat in the cold winter months. But maximum heat rules, to keep residents – particularly vulnerable older residents – from overheating in the summer are a rarity.

One Oshawa residents wants that to change, though City Council’s response – if there is going to be one – will not happen this year.

Laura Jean Barton, a resident of a Durham Region Housing apartment in downtown Oshawa, wants the City to set a maximum heat threshold of 26 degrees Celsius for all tenants in the city, many with no air conditioning during the heat of the summer.

Barton brought her issue to a recent Safety and Facilities Committee meeting, with her request simply ‘received for information,’ which often means the issue would be put on the backburner and sometimes even forgotten.

After pleading her case at the June 24 Council meeting – the last meeting before the summer break – her motion was moved up slightly in the pecking order and was referred to staff to prepare a report for a future committee meeting.

Too late for this summer, unfortunately.

“There’s an urgent need for a maximum heat bylaw to protect residents, especially the elderly, from excessive indoor heat,” she told Council, adding that at one point during a recent heat wave “it was hard to breathe.”

Barton cited a recent study that showed lakeshore communities in the GTA – Toronto and Hamilton were singled out – were among the worst communities in Canada for excessive indoor heat.

She also cited a 2021 heat wave in B.C. that killed 619 people, with the vast majority of those deaths happening inside the home. “People don’t die because it’s hot outside,” she said, quoting a doctor with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. “People die because it’s hot inside.”

In her May 22 letter to committee – ten days before landlords are mandated to turn on air conditioning units – Barton said temperatures in her unit reached an “unbearable temperature” of 30 degrees and rising, and my housing provider has refused to turn on the air conditioning. “

With climate change likely leading to more frequent and severe heatwaves “resulting in heat-related illnesses and even deaths, especially among vulnerable populations” and no local bylaw in place, the situation could get worse, she added.

“It is imperative that we take proactive measures to protect our community.”

The proposed bylaw would specify a maximum temperature limit, require landlords to provide adequate cooling measures and establish procedures for addressing heat-related concerns.

Barton said many older buildings don’t have air conditioning and tenants must pay a fee to install their own – even if they pay for their own hydro. Others on fixed incomes can’t afford to buy the units. Improper ventilation in some buildings can also lead to excessive heat issues, she was told.

Councillor Rosemary McConkey, who said the vote at committee to ‘receive for information’ was split at 3-3, recommended Council take immediate action on enacting a bylaw. “It’s a hot topic in other municipalities.”

Council decided to send the issue to staff to “explore and examine” and report back to the Safety & Facilities Committee.