Bill 128 Original (PDF)
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. The definition of “vital services” in subsection 2 (1) of the Act is amended by adding cooling, which is described in new subsections 2 (5) and (6) of the Act. The Act is also amended by adding new transition regulation-making authority.
Bill 128 2026
An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1 (1) The definition of “vital services” in subsection 2 (1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 is amended by adding, “cooling, as described in subsection (5) and during the part of each year set out in that subsection” after “gas”.
(2) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:
Interpretation, vital service
(5) For the purposes of the definition of “vital services”, cooling shall be provided so, during the period of June 1 to September 30 in each year, the room temperature of any room intended for tenants to live in is, at most, 26 degrees Celsius.
Same
(6) The cooling requirements set out in subsection (5) are deemed to be met in a rental unit in which the tenant can regulate the temperature to a maximum of 26 degrees Celsius but the tenant does not do so.
2 The Act is amended by adding the following section:
Transition regulations, Hot Days, Cool Homes Act, 2026
241.6 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations governing transitional matters that, in the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, are necessary or advisable to deal with issues arising out of the amendments to this Act made by the Hot Days, Cool Homes Act, 2026.
Same
(2) A regulation made under subsection (1) may,
(a) provide that, despite the coming into force of a provision of this Act as enacted by the Hot Days, Cool Homes Act, 2026, the provision does not take effect in all or part of the province until the date specified in the regulation;
(b) provide that a provision of this Act, as it reads immediately before the commencement date of its amendment, repeal or re-enactment by the Hot Days, Cool Homes Act, 2026, continues to apply, for a specified period of time and with necessary modifications, to specified things or in specified circumstances;
(c) govern the application of provisions of this Act to proceedings before a court or the Board in which a claim is made relating to amendments to this Act made by the Hot Days, Cool Homes Act, 2026 and which were commenced before the commencement date of the amendment.
Commencement
3 (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
(2) Section 1 comes into force on the later of January 1, 2035 and the day this Act receives Royal Assent.
Short title
4 The short title of this Act is the Hot Days, Cool Homes Act, 2026.