A group of High Park tenants in multiple apartment buildings are speaking out about ongoing heating issues in their units as they struggle to stay warm amid bitterly cold temperatures.
“In my bedroom, it’s about 16 C,” said Diana Jardine, one of the tenants dealing with a lack of heat.
Jardine spoke with CityNews as she was heading out to buy an additional space heater. She said like many tenants, she’s been struggling with little to no heat since last week when building management notified them that they were changing the boilers.
“I’ve moved into one of the smaller bedrooms and that’s where I’m sleeping now just to keep myself comfortable, but I know I’m not alone,” she explained.
“They replaced the boilers but I guess they had ‘technical issues’ and the heat has not been high enough to sustain living here without space heaters all over the place,” said another tenant who preferred not to appear on camera.
The tenant is pregnant and says coping has been particularly difficult. She’s using tape to try and prevent cold air from coming in through the windows. She tells CityNews she can’t run too many space heaters or the power in her unit will cut out.
“Some radiators are fine and some aren’t and I haven’t been able to sleep in the primary bedroom for a couple of days. I’ve had to sleep on the couch,” she shared.
A yellow cold warning was in effect overnight Monday into Tuesday and overnight lows for the rest of the week are expected to be between -14 C and -21 C.
Multiple tenants say this has been issue at several buildings, all of them part of the Grenadier Square apartment complex run by GWL Realty Advisors Residential.
Tenants tell CityNews management has offered space heaters for individual units but further communication has been frustratingly limited, with no indication of when the issues will be resolved.
“This is my sleeping outfit. To me, it’s like jeans and sweater you’d wear outside. It’s terrible,” said another man who lives in the building.
His indoor temperature gauge on Tuesday was hitting only 18 C with a space heater on.
GWL Realty Advisors tell CityNews they are aware of the heating issues and understand residents’ concerns.
“Our maintenance team and external technicians have been on site since the issue arose, to resolve the situation as quickly and safely as possible. While a majority of units have now returned to normal temperatures, work is ongoing to restore full heating performance across all four building,” read their statement.
They add they are in direct contact with residents and say they are “providing regular updates.”
“Resident comfort and safety remains our priority. We appreciate residents’ patience as our team works diligently to resolve the issues.”
