Tenants of a Wolseley apartment building that has been without a working heating system for almost a month were still waiting for the outage to be resolved Sunday afternoon.
A provincial spokesperson said Friday the landlord of 875 Westminster Ave. told the Residential Tenancies Branch that repairs were expected to be completed that day.
Tenant Raina Enns told the Free Press a Thorwin Properties manager sent an email Sunday that said the installation of a new boiler is going well, and the company hopes to get the heat going Monday.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
The building at 875 Westminster Ave. has been without heat for almost a month.
“It’s hard to feel even more frustrated than I have felt this whole time,” Enns said. “It just seems like every day there’s another delay. I’m so angry, but what else can I do?”
The update came after building owner Thorwin emailed tenants Friday afternoon to inform them a new boiler would be installed Friday, followed by “initialization and start up” on Saturday and Sunday.
Residents were told contractors may require access to their suites up to and including Monday to troubleshoot an adjust in-suite radiators, if necessary.
A second email said a credit of one month’s rent was applied to tenants’ accounts.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding during the recent boiler issues,” the email said. “We recognize this situation was challenging for all parties, and we truly appreciate the co-operation and resilience shown by our community.”
Thorwin officials have not responded to requests for comment.
Residents and two commercial tenants — Organic Planet Worker Co-op and Prairie Sky Books — have been relying on portable heaters to stay warm since the building’s previous boiler was switched off Jan. 4 for tests and repairs.
Thorwin’s previous emails to tenants said a boiler consultant was brought in Jan. 9 to conduct an assessment, and issues continued despite several repairs being completed from Jan. 12-14.
A Jan. 16 email informed tenants that repairs were almost finished and the boiler was expected to be up and running soon. Additional work was required, however, and the outage continued.
The company later said a new boiler would be installed.
Tenants said some temporary power outages occurred while the portable heaters led to increased electricity use, leaving them without heat on some of the coldest days of winter.
Thorwin provided multiple small space heaters to each suite initially. Tenants were then given one industrial heater to use, Enns said.
Thorwin told tenants to avoid using multiple high-power appliances, including TVs and additional heaters, at the same time as the heater to avoid overloading the block’s electrical system.
The three-storey building, located just west of Arlington Street, has eight residential suites.
The province and city are monitoring the situation. An earlier statement from the province said the RTB was prepared “to take enforcement action if the landlord ceases to co-operate in addressing these repairs.”
The city issued a compliance order for the installation of a new heating system, spokesman Adam Campbell said. The file is open, with a compliance date of Feb. 27.
An initial compliance order required the property to meet minimum heating standards set out in Winnipeg’s neighbourhood liveability bylaw. Thorwin complied with the order via the use of temporary heaters, according to the city.
Bylaw enforcement staff visited the builing more than once to check indoor air temperatures.
Rental properties are required to maintain a temperature of at least 21 C during the day (7 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and at least 18 C overnight (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.).
The building was constructed in 1910, according to the Manitoba Historical Society’s online archives.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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Source: https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/02/01/wolseley-tenants-still-waiting-for-heat-to-be-restored
