British Columbia Landlord Compliance · Handle a repair request

Vancouver's Heating and Cooling Rules for Rentals

These are two separate rules on two separate timelines. The heating minimum has applied for years. The cooling rule is three months old, and it doesn't work the way most landlords assume. Neither BC's tenancy law nor the building code sets a maximum temperature for an existing rental. That gap is real, and it's exactly why Vancouver added a narrower rule instead: not a temperature you must hit, but a right you can't take away.

Written by Platuni

The short answer

1.Nearly every rental in Vancouver must be able to maintain 22°C, with no exception for the building's age.
2.Lodging houses run a split minimum instead: 20°C during the day, 16°C overnight.
3.Neither the Residential Tenancy Act nor the building code requires cooling in an existing building.
4.Since June 2026, you can't ban or unreasonably limit a tenant's portable air conditioner if the unit has no central cooling.
5.Violating that rule can cost up to $1,000 per offence.

The two rules, side by side

· Heating minimum: applies to nearly every building, sets an actual temperature floor, been in force for years
· Cooling access: applies specifically to units without central air, sets no temperature floor at all, just stops you blocking a tenant's own portable unit, three months old

#1. The heating minimum you're already working under

Vancouver's Standards of Maintenance By-law requires every building except lodging houses to be able to maintain a minimum of 22°C, measured at a point five feet off the floor in the centre of the room. Lodging houses run their own split schedule: not below 20°C between 8 a.m. and midnight, and not below 16°C overnight. This obligation doesn't scale down for an older building; the standard is the same whether the heating system is from this decade or the 1970s.

[Cite: City of Vancouver, Standards of Maintenance By-law, ss 18.1, 21.13(b)]

Do this instead

Test the coldest room in the unit during winter, not the warmest, and keep the reading. That's what actually gets checked in a dispute.

#2. Why there's no maximum temperature, and what that leaves open

Neither the Residential Tenancy Act nor the BC Building Code sets a maximum indoor temperature for an existing rental. The 2024 edition of the Building Code does require one living space in new residential buildings to stay at or below 26°C, but that requirement doesn't apply retroactively, so it does nothing for the building stock most landlords are actually renting out. In practice, this meant a landlord could refuse to allow any cooling device at all, and until recently, that was legal in Vancouver specifically because nothing said otherwise.

[Cite: Residential Tenancy Branch, Air Conditioning (AC) Units information sheet; BC Building Code, 2024 edition]

#3. The rule that actually changed in June 2026

Vancouver amended its Licence By-law to prohibit landlords from banning or unreasonably restricting a tenant's use of a portable air conditioner in a unit that doesn't already have central cooling. This isn't a mandate to install anything; a landlord still doesn't have to provide air conditioning. What changed is narrower and more specific: if the tenant brings their own portable unit, you can no longer say no by default. Fines for violating this run up to $1,000 per offence.

[Cite: City of Vancouver, Licence By-law, as amended June 2026]

Do this instead

If your building's electrical system genuinely can't support portable cooling units safely, document that with a professional assessment before you rely on it as a reason to refuse one. A general preference against window units isn't the same thing as a documented safety limit.

#4. What "unreasonable" limits might look like

The by-law doesn't spell out every scenario, but a blanket no is the clearest violation. A landlord can likely still set reasonable conditions, such as requiring safe window-unit installation to prevent it falling, without that counting as a ban. The line sits between a genuine safety condition and a preference dressed up as one.

[Cite: City of Vancouver, Licence By-law, as amended June 2026]

Reading this as a tenant?

If your unit has no central air and your landlord is refusing a portable unit outright, this by-law is what to reference. It doesn't force them to buy you an air conditioner, but it does stop them from blocking the one you'd bring yourself.