New Westminster is trying to stop apartments from overheating. Will Vancouver follow suit?
New Westminster is moving forward in passing a maximum heat bylaw — meaning that landlords need to find a way to keep their apartments cool in the hot summer months, but will Vancouver follow suit?
New West City Council recently gave the third reading on a motion that requires landlords to find a way to keep at least one living space in a rental unit at or below an average temperature of 26°C between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
If someone has prolonged exposure to temperatures higher than that, it could potentially be a health risk.
This follows the 2021 deadly heat dome in B.C., where temperatures hit 40°C in many parts of B.C., and high indoor temperatures were the main cause of injury and death. A report from the British Columbia Coroners Service found that 619 people died due to heat-related causes — 33 of them in New Westminster.
“Many of these residents were vulnerable people living in older purpose-built rental buildings,” said the City of New Westminster in an email to Daily Hive Urbanized. “In response to these heat-related fatalities, City Council directed staff to develop a bylaw to protect tenants from similar preventable fatalities in future.”
Nadine Nakagawa, a New West city councillor, encourages other cities to follow suit.
“Let’s move forward with it. Tenants deserve safe housing. They don’t deserve to die in their homes during a heat dome or another climate-related event,” she said. “I would like this for all renters across Canada. I don’t think it should just be New Westminster.”
She added that she hopes municipalities work together so that their bylaws line up, so it’s easier for property management companies to work across multiple jurisdictions.
Is this feasible in Vancouver?
However, it might not be a straightforward process for Vancouver. The City is governed by the Vancouver Charter, a provincial statute. Under this, the City can regulate minimum temperatures (so buildings don’t get too cold in the winter months) but not maximum temperatures.
In an email to Daily Hive Urbanized, the City said it asked the Province in January 2025 to amend the Charter to allow Vancouver to regulate maximum indoor temperatures in residential buildings.
“In March 2025, the Province advised the City that it requires additional time, research, and policy work before considering the proposed amendment,” the City wrote in the email.
A former OneCity councillor for Vancouver, Christine Boyle (who is now an MLA), had also previously introduced the idea of a maximum temperature bylaw.
But Lucy Maloney, a current OneCity councillor, said that while she appreciates that New West has moved forward with this bylaw, it could have some unintended consequences.
“It’s a very complicated issue, though, both legally and from the point of view of making sure that housing affordability is not jeopardized,” Maloney told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview.
“While you might be able to guarantee that current renters are not footing the bill for improvements. I’m not sure how you prevent future tenants from paying higher rents,” she said.
Maloney said this is why all levels of government need to support landlords with this transition.
She pointed out that ABC councillor Lenny Zhou made an amendment to the 2026 Vancouver budget to cut $8.2 million allocated to make rental buildings both less polluting and safer in hot weather. She added that the City had also previously distributed cool kits as a preventive routine, but won’t be doing so this year.
“I think, in the years since the heat dome, some of this sense of urgency has been lost about this issue. And I’m a little bit concerned about what’s going to happen this summer.”
While B.C. provided air conditioners for vulnerable residents in 2023 (and BC Hydro still has a program), Maloney thinks that the funding needs to provide ongoing funding for this.
“It’s not just the City of Vancouver or the City of New West where this is an issue; it’s the entire province. And so I think that the provincial government needs to take responsibility for funding, because municipalities are stretched.”
So, what can Vancouverites do when it gets hot outside?
With Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) forecasting 2026 to be one of the hottest years on record, there are a few options available for people when temperatures get hot.
When the ECCC issues a heat warning or declares an extreme heat emergency, they activate cooling centres with air conditioning, in places like libraries or community centres. There are also over 300 drinking fountains year-round, with additional temporary drinking fountains, handwashing stations and misting stations added during the summer.
Further, the City partners with local organizations to create plans to support seniors, people with disabilities, low-income tenants, and other at-risk groups during heat events. It also recently approved grants to provide cooling rooms in a number of SROs.
But Maloney pointed out that some people might have barriers to accessing these cooling centres, including people not feeling safe, not wanting to leave their homes, or not being able to travel easily.
She suggested that a possibility could be providing at least one cool room per building, so that people don’t have to travel far.
“And it needs to be a priority, because it’s literally a matter of life and death for some people.”