Calgary renters say it's time to cap indoor temperatures at 26°C
Housing advocates want the city to cap temperatures in older rental apartments and provide free air conditioning units for low-income tenants.
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Abi Martin was cooking gnocchi in her ninth-floor Beltline apartment when the interior temperature climbed above 30 degrees—hotter than the air outside. The extreme heat made her dizzy and unsteady on her feet. She's fainted during previous heat spells in Calgary, and she doesn't think a warm day should put her life in danger.
Martin is a volunteer board member with Acorn, a housing advocacy group that's calling on Calgary city council to adopt a maximum temperature bylaw for older rental apartments that lack cooling systems. The group wants the indoor temperature in at least one room capped at 26 degrees Celsius and is asking the city to provide free portable air conditioning units for low-income tenants until landlords comply with new rules.
"Just because we're tenants doesn't mean that we deserve to cook to death in our own suites," Martin said outside her 16-storey building.
Jared Blustein, executive director of the Calgary Climate Hub, called it an emerging public health concern that transcends partisan lines. "This is something we need to do to increase the resilience of all Calgarians," he said.
Acorn is modelling the proposal after a bylaw New Westminster, B.C., passed in March. That city of 90,000 was devastated by a 2021 heat dome that pushed temperatures past 40 degrees Celsius and killed 33 residents—part of a provincial death toll exceeding 600. In Alberta, an estimated 66 people died during that same week-long event. Calgary's temperature climbed to 36.3 degrees, the second highest on record.
New Westminster's bylaw requires landlords to maintain a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius or lower in at least one room between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., with penalties up to $750 for non-compliance. The city also bans landlords from preventing tenants from using portable cooling devices.
Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said council unanimously approved the concept but hasn't yet formally adopted it into law, using the pause to work with landlords on compliance pathways. "It's a responsibility of the building owners to ensure that their units are livable and that their tenants aren't going to die during the climate events that we know are coming," she said.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas is open to the idea but worries extra costs could impact housing affordability. Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts 2026 will likely rank among the four hottest years on record.