Vancouver City Council has approved nearly $1.4 million in funding for four projects supporting capital upgrades and life-safety improvements in existing non-market and private single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings in the Downtown Eastside. The Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society (SRO-C) will receive $500,000 to support cooling and warming retrofits in six private SROs.
The heat dome in British Columbia, which occurred between June 25 and July 1, 2021, resulted in 619 heat-related deaths, with 98 per cent of those deaths occurring indoors.
Gabby Doebeli, a housing researcher at the University of British Columbia Centre for Climate Justice, said that data collected from 14 SROs showed that tenants experience prolonged heat exposure in their homes, with some rooms reaching temperatures of 40°C. Many tenants also lacked access to trusted water sources or cooling resources.
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