New Westminster · Bylaw 6926 Now in Effect
New Westminster Now Requires Landlords to Keep Units Cool. Is Your Building Ready?
Canada’s first landlord heat bylaw (Bylaw 6926) is in force. Rental units must maintain 26°C overnight during extreme heat events, or the city can deny the business licence you need to rent. Ecovision helps New Westminster building owners and managers document a compliance plan and cool their buildings for good.
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BC’s #1 window film specialists · LLumar & Vista certified · Trusted by senior-living & multi-unit residences across Metro Vancouver
What Bylaw 6926 Actually Requires
Four things every New Westminster landlord and property manager needs to understand:
- The 26°C overnight rule. During declared extreme heat events, units must maintain a 26°C average overnight temperature (8pm to 8am) in at least one living space. The bylaw season runs April 1 to October 31.
- It is the landlord’s responsibility. The obligation belongs to the landlord, not the tenant. Tenants also have an explicit right to install portable cooling equipment, landlords cannot prohibit it in lease terms.
- The enforcement is real. The city can deny or revoke the business licence required to legally rent. Enforcement is currently collaborative and complaint-driven, but the first heat event is when inspections begin.
- No fixed deadline, but heat doesn’t wait. Buildings that prepare early stay ahead of complaints and inspections. The 2021 heat dome killed 33 people in the New Westminster area, that is the context behind this bylaw.
The City Specifically Lists Window Film as a Qualifying Cooling Measure
In its guidance to landlords, the City of New Westminster names window film among the accepted ways to keep units cool, alongside thermal curtains, portable AC, fans, and air sealing. This is verbatim from the city’s official cooling requirements page.
Window film is the only measure on that list that works at the source: it cuts solar heat gain at the glass, across the whole building, permanently, with no ongoing energy cost.
Why film leads the list
- Permanent, not a seasonal device that gets stored away
- Maintenance-free, no electricity, no moving parts
- Lowers cooling load building-wide, every unit benefits, not just ones with portable AC
- Keeps working in a multi-day heat dome when portable units struggle on their own
The Ecovision Cooling Assessment, Your Building’s Compliance Starting Point
The Ecovision Cooling Assessment is a structured on-site review of your building’s heat exposure and compliance readiness. It is complimentary for New Westminster building owners and property managers, and it ends with a documented compliance summary you can present to the City.
- Facade survey, identify worst-exposure walls, document glazing type and existing film.
- Unit-level risk mapping, pinpoint the hottest units (top floor, west and south exposure).
- Heat-gain modelling, estimate peak indoor temperature with and without film.
- Ranked recommendations, all interventions ranked by cost-effectiveness for your specific building.
- Compliance summary report, branded one-pager documenting findings, ready to show the City of New Westminster.
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Compliance Tonight vs. Compliance Forever
| Portable AC alone | Window film + building plan |
|---|---|
| Can maintain 26°C on a moderate day | Cuts solar heat gain 50, 80% at the source |
| Runs constantly during a heat event | Reduces AC load, units run less, cost less |
| Ongoing electricity cost | Installed in days, no ongoing energy cost |
| Performance degrades on multi-day events | Permanent, performs the same in year 15 as year 1 |
AC gives you compliance tonight. Film gives you compliance forever.
Trusted by Multi-Unit and Senior-Living Buildings Across Metro Vancouver
Ecovision Window Films is a certified LLumar and Vista installer with a track record in exactly the building types Bylaw 6926 targets:
- Rosemary Heights Seniors Village, LLumar DR25 solar film installed across high-exposure facades, significantly reducing cooling load and improving resident comfort.
- Guildford Seniors Village, comprehensive window film installation across a multi-wing senior care facility.
- Windermere Care Centre, solar and privacy film installation for resident comfort and regulatory compliance.
These are exactly the building types, multi-unit residential, senior-living, strata-managed, that the New Westminster bylaw targets. Our team understands what inspectors look for and what a credible compliance plan includes.
Flexible Ways to Start, Built Around Your Budget and Timeline
- Complimentary Cooling Assessment, free on-site building comfort, cooling, and solar-heat assessment with a documented compliance summary. No obligation. The report is yours to keep.
- Pilot Study, film one high-exposure unit and measure before-and-after temperatures across a heat period. See the data before committing to the full building.
- Sample Install for Comparison, install film on one window panel and leave the adjacent panel unfilmed. See and feel the difference side by side.
- Phased Installation, start with the worst-exposure units (top floor, west and south faces) and roll out across budget cycles. Prioritises the highest-risk units first without requiring full building commitment upfront.
Get Ahead of the Heat, and the Inspector
Book your free Cooling Assessment. We will map your building’s heat risk, hand you a compliance summary you can show the City, and give you a clear, costed plan, at no cost and no obligation.
Book My Free Cooling Assessment
Fill in the form below and an Ecovision advisor will reach out within one business day to confirm your on-site assessment.
No obligation. The assessment and compliance summary are yours to keep.
Questions? Call us directly: (236) 862-0052