The heat at a midtown Toronto apartment building has been shut off and the air conditioner has been turned back on following several residents’ complaints during this blast of summer weather.
The heating at an apartment building located at 44 Jackes Avenue, in the area of Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue, has been on for the past week in compliance with a city bylaw stating that between Sept.15 and June 1 landlords are required to keep the heat at or above 21 C.
However, with the above seasonal temperatures Toronto has been experiencing this September tenants said having the heat on in the building was “very uncomfortable.”
“There are quite a few seniors in the building so I can’t image how they are coping,” one tenant told CP24 Wednesday night. “We’re having a hard time sleeping at night and (my daughter) came home from school the other day and our dog was sick all over the apartment just because of the heat and there’s not much you can do with pets if you’re not there during the day.”
A notice that was sent out to residents said the transition period for turning on and off the heating or air conditioning units was a five-day process, which the building management said they were unable to do.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the property management team of the building Rahim Ladha told CP24 they were able to turn off the heat and restore the air conditioning quicker than expected.
“It was truly an all-hands-on-deck effort for our property management team as we prioritized both the well-being of our residents and the activity required to restore air conditioning to all suites,” Ladha said. “We had originally estimated a three-to-five day period to restore air conditioning -- to be expected for a system of its age and design.”
“However, our property management team and technicians made remarkable progress yesterday and achieved a solution that brought our air condition system back online yesterday evening.”
Prior to the restoration, Mayor John Tory told reporters on Thursday he was “skeptical” that it would take that amount of time to turn the air conditioning on in the building but nevertheless is he “quite open” to the idea of reviewing the bylaw as per the request of Ward 22 Coun. Josh Matlow.
“I maintain the principle that we have to make sure that people are subject to a reasonable environment in their apartments, hot or cold, during the winter season especially, but do it in a way that is perhaps more accommodating to the fact that weather changes from time to time,” he said.
“I think the bottom line is a review of the bylaw will be sensitive to the fact that people (who are) very uncomfortable this weekend shouldn’t be but at the same time will allow those to come forward who have complex heating systems and tell us why. And that may mean that we have to be a bit more flexible.”
With sweltering temperatures expected throughout the upcoming weekend, Toronto’s ombudsman said landlords in the city should “turn off the heat.”
Ombudsman Susan Opler told The Canadian Press that Toronto landlords should turn off the heat in their buildings until the current heat wave is over as it presents a real risk to the health and safety of tenants.
Possibly record breaking temperatures are expected to last throughout the weekend with anticipated daytime highs of 31 C and 32 C on Saturday and Sunday respectively. With the humidex, it’s expected to feel more like 40.
