ACORN Canada

With unanimous support, the motion to ‘Expand Cooling Requirements and Cooling Amenity Spaces in Apartment Buildings’ PASSED at Mississauga City Council! 🎉🙌

Mississauga-Cooksville Chair Marcia Bryan reminded councillors during ACORN's delegation that indoor cooling is not a luxury. It is about basic human survival. Let's not forget that two weeks ago it was 48 degrees outside. 🔥

Peel ACORN is hopeful that the review process that starts now will get Mississauga tenants closer to victory in our fight to . 🌡️☀️

We will keep the pressure high 📈 to make sure this is a priority before next summer (and for the upcoming election 🗳️). Peel ACORN is organizing for:

⚠️A Maximum Heat By-law: Landlords must be legally required to keep apartments below 26°C all summer. We have rules for winter heat, so we need rules for summer cooling.

❄️A Local Free AC Program: Mississauga must follow other cities and set up a program to get free cooling units directly to tenants who need them.

Read our written submission and the motion that got passed here: https://acorncanada.org/news/mississauga-takes-first-step-to-protect-tenants-from-summer-heat/

Read the full Globe And Mail article + sign ACORN's online action calling for tenant protections from the heat! 🔥🏡

July 15th, ACORN Canada members are took action in 13 actions across 11 cities as part of ACORN International's Beat the Heat Global Day of Action. As extreme heat becomes more frequent and deadly, low and moderate income tenants are paying the price by living in homes that become dangerously hot, facing rising energy costs, and struggling to access the cooling they need to stay safe.

Across the country, ACORN members are demanding maximum indoor temperature laws, free and affordable air conditioning, lower hydro bills, and stronger tenant protections so that no one has to choose between staying cool and keeping a roof over their head. Extreme heat is a public health crisis, and everyone deserves a safe, climate resilient home.

📞 ACORN MEMBERS FLOOD PROVINCIAL OFFICES WITH CALLS FOR AC FOR ALL! 📞

Last night, ACORN members in Ontario and New Brunswick held two coordinated phone zaps, targeting 10 provincial offices to demand protection from extreme heat.
Thirty Ontario members called Doug Ford and the Ministers of Housing, Environment and Energy, with CTV Kitchener capturing the action. Sudbury member Carrie-Lynn reached a staff member live and shared her experience living without AC in a mould-infested apartment with 70% humidity. Across the province, government staff recorded members’ messages - and the growing number of calls they've been receiving.

In New Brunswick, a dozen members called six key ministers to demand cooling access for all. The province has no dedicated low-income energy rebate, no low-income rental retrofit program and no dedicated free cooling centres, leaving people without protection when they cannot afford—or are not allowed—to cool their homes.

ACORN members are making sure provincial governments cannot ignore this crisis.

📣 Demand protection from extreme heat:
New Brunswick: https://acorncanada.org/take_action/extreme-heat-kills-protect-tenants/
Ontario: https://acorncanada.org/take_action/extreme-heat-kills-ontario-acorn-demands-ac-for-all/

🔥 TORONTO ACORN TOOK OVER DOWNTOWN FOR AC FOR ALL! 🔥

On July 15, Toronto ACORN joined more than 40 protests worldwide for ACORN International’s Beat the Heat Day of Action.

Under smoke-filled skies, as Toronto’s air-quality health index reached 10+ (the highest-risk category) members marched down University Avenue and into the tower housing Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator. The march continued to IESO’s 16th-floor offices, where members hand-delivered a demand letter and secured a promise to follow up.

ACORN is demanding that IESO match the City of Toronto’s funding for its Air Conditioner Assistance Program, helping provide free AC units to low-income tenants. Members are also calling for the Ontario Electricity Support Program to cover the AC fees landlords can pass on to tenants under provincial legislation.

Tenants deserve protection from deadly heat. Cooling is a right, not a luxury.

📣 Join the campaign:
https://acorncanada.org/take_action/extreme-heat-kills-ontario-acorn-demands-ac-for-all/

🔥 CALGARY ACORN IS DEMANDING A MAXIMUM-HEAT BYLAW!

Alberta ACORN members and allies in Calgary rallied to demand a maximum indoor-temperature bylaw that protects tenants from dangerously hot homes.
Members made the message clear: access to air conditioning is a class issue, and safe housing is a matter of health. Low-income tenants should not be left at risk of heat exhaustion or heat stroke simply because they cannot afford cooling.
Calgary needs enforceable protections that hold landlords accountable and ensure every tenant can stay safely cool. We need a maximum-heat bylaw NOW!

📣 Join ACORN in demanding protection from extreme heat:
https://acorncanada.org/take_action/extreme-heat-kills-protect-tenants/