70% of Manitoba Housing units studied went days with indoor temperatures at or above 26 C

The majority of Manitoba Housing units tested by CBC News this summer recorded heat that could put the health of some residents at risk,

The majority of Manitoba Housing units tested by CBC News this summer recorded heat that could put the health of some residents at risk, as a resident and a tenant advocate call on government to make it easier to install air conditioning in social housing.

Seventy per cent of the units tested by CBC News remained at or above 26 C for periods ranging from 10 to 75 per cent of the approximately two-month study period, despite Manitoba's cooler-than-normal temperatures this July and August.

A national CBC News investigation found some people across the country live in homes with around-the-clock heat and humidity levels experts consider dangerous. In Winnipeg, the peak temperature measured was in a fifth-floor apartment on Kennedy Street that hit 32.3 C in mid-June. The same unit had 44 out of 59 days where the temperature never dropped below 26 C.

"As you get above 26 degrees it becomes more stressful on the body," said University of Ottawa professor of physiology Glen Kenny. "When you are exposed to the heat, the heart is working much harder."

Among the most at-risk during extreme heat are the elderly, babies and the medically compromised, Health Canada says.

Kenny says keeping indoor temperatures below 26 C is "really about protecting your life."