I'm a landlord.

I can say that there is already a shortgage of rental units in Toronto....not good quality units, units period. The vacancy rate is very low! This is partly caused by the Residential Tenancies Act and other tenancy laws that have driven many small landlords out of the business. The cost of investment vs return is simply not significant enough to deal with the legal headaches such as 6 month eviction process. Supply and demand has taken over and the low vacancy rates have realized more expensive rents. This will only get worse with the new mortgage rules that will see more people renting.

Now, forcing landlords to provide air-conditioning will do two things:
1) force small landlords out of business because they cannot afford the infastructure
2) drive up the costs of rent as I, and other landlords will charge more for rent. In the short term we will apply and get "above average" yearly increase in rent. Later, when tenants leave, we will raise the costs of rents significantly for the next tenant.

Either way it is a recipe for disaster. A recipe that will result in a further decrease in vacancy rates and a marked increase in rental rates.

This was all brought on by tenant activists. Notice that Matlow wants consultation with tenants groups, what about landlords groups?