70% of Manitoba Housing units studied went days with indoor temperatures at or above 26 C
Manitoba Housing does not supply air conditioners and limits them to 1 per unit
The majority of Manitoba Housing units tested by CBC News this summer recorded heat that could put the health of some residents at risk, as a resident and a tenant advocate call on government to make it easier to install air conditioning in social housing.
Seventy per cent of the units tested by CBC News remained at or above 26 C for periods ranging from 10 to 75 per cent of the approximately two-month study period, despite Manitoba's cooler-than-normal temperatures this July and August.
A national CBC News investigation found some people across the country live in homes with around-the-clock heat and humidity levels experts consider dangerous. In Winnipeg, the peak temperature measured was in a fifth-floor apartment on Kennedy Street that hit 32.3 C in mid-June. The same unit had 44 out of 59 days where the temperature never dropped below 26 C.
"As you get above 26 degrees it becomes more stressful on the body," said University of Ottawa professor of physiology Glen Kenny. "When you are exposed to the heat, the heart is working much harder."
Among the most at-risk during extreme heat are the elderly, babies and the medically compromised, Health Canada says.
Kenny says keeping indoor temperatures below 26 C is "really about protecting your life."
Woman kept in hospital to avoid heat at home
CBC News collected data in five cities: Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Windsor. Reporters identified 10 households in each city with zero or minimal central cooling and installed heat and humidity sensors to take measurements every 10 minutes. CBC teams activated most of the sensors in late June and collected the data in mid-August.
In Winnipeg, 10 sensors were placed in Manitoba Housing units throughout the city.
Winnipeg cardiac patient Denise Gauthier spent an extra day in hospital this June because her doctor did not want to risk sending her back to her overheated home.
WATCH | Temperatures inside Manitoba Housing units:
Gauthier, who has heart failure, said she put in a request to Manitoba Housing to have her window air conditioning unit installed at the end of April, but that didn't happen until the third week of June.
Gauthier says the provincial Crown corporation installed it for her after her windows were replaced earlier this year, an exception to their usual policy.
Manitoba Housing policy states air conditioners must be obtained by residents and a professional must be hired to install them, although "some of the newer builds do include A/C as part of construction," wrote a departmental spokesperson, who added the department does not track where the units with air conditioning are located.
The policy also bans tenants from having more than one unit per home due to electrical capacity in older buildings.
High temps even with AC
Gauthier has an improperly installed portable unit in her second-floor bedroom because she did not want to damage the screen or window.
"It's not working well," said Gauthier.
She blames the heat in her bedroom for bouts of hyperventilation. "It's like you have only half air inside, and I have, like, a panic attack."
WATCH | As cities get hotter, these people are living in 'excruciating' heat:
She says she needs the second unit because her CPAP machine — which ensures she keeps breathing while asleep — does not maintain suction to her face when it gets too sweaty in her bedroom.
The temperature upstairs in Gauthier's two-storey townhouse ranged from 29.5 to 26.4 C for the first 24 hours the sensor was installed.
Manitoba Housing installed her main floor air conditioner the next day, but the upstairs sensor recorded nine out of 57 days where the temperature never dropped below 26 C.
Windows locked to keep AC away
Gauthier's upgraded windows even included a feature to make sure tenants do not install air conditioners on their own — a lock.
A spokesperson for Manitoba Housing said tenants are not given the keys to the removable window panel to install air conditioners for several reasons: to ensure the landlord's permission has been given, to limit damage and to save tenants from being charged for lost keys.
For residents who need help putting in a window air conditioner, "if capacity allows, Manitoba Housing staff on site may be able to help tenants," the department spokesperson said.
Manitoba Housing wouldn't speak to Gauthier's specific case, citing privacy.
WATCH | B.C. landlords warn renters against installing AC units in mid-summer:
Gauthier, 68, says she's speaking out because she doesn't want others with health problems ending up in hospital like she did.
An air conditioner is not expensive, she said, compared to the cost of a hospital stay.
"I hope there would be like a limit of how warm the place is, and there would be maybe less people in the hospital or the emergency," said Gauthier.
People need cooling around the clock
The data from temperature and humidity sensors CBC News placed in the homes of people across the country showed nighttime offers little to no relief in places without central cooling, when daytime temperatures are high.
What's needed, experts say, are policies to keep people cool at all hours — a need that grows more urgent as climate change warms the planet and heat waves become more frequent and severe.
Debbie Thunder's second-floor suite in a Main Street highrise hit 30.5 C the night of Aug. 7, and the temperature never dropped below 26 C for 21 days out of 50 during the study period.
She says she can't afford an air conditioner or pay for the installation.
Thunder relies on a fan to keep her cool and shrouds her windows to keep the sun out.
"I'd like to move to a different place because the air doesn't rotate around here," said Thunder.
'More of a necessity than a luxury'
Lindsay Schaitel, lead tenant and landlord co-operation co-ordinator at North End Community Renewal Corporation, thinks Manitoba Housing should provide and install air conditioners. If that's not possible, she would like to see the installation fee waived or at least an offer to spread the cost to tenants over several months.
"It's considered a luxury right now. I think that when it comes to your health and it's risking someone's life, I think then it becomes more of a necessity than a luxury," said Schaitel.
She said even a $200 air conditioner would be impossible for some Manitoba Housing residents to afford.
"If you're talking about someone on [Employment and Income Assistance], it's pretty much impossible. A lot of times they are living on a couple hundred dollars for the whole month to eat," said Schaitel.
Kenny said the CBC News investigation shows finding solutions should be a huge priority because the planet is going to get hotter.
"Even having a single room as your safety zone that's air conditioned to limit the adverse health impacts is something that needs to be considered," said Kenny.
Kenny says we "may require legislation to ensure that those vulnerable people that are being told that they can't install, let's say a wall mounted air conditioner, can do so to ensure that they feel safe and protected."
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With files from Kristin Annable and Tara Carman