Nearly seven out of ten Quebecers have an air conditioning apparatus at home, according to a study published on Tuesday. A proportion that constantly increases from year to year.
Formerly a luxury, today the standard, air conditioning is increasingly widespread in our homes. It is just over 69 % of Quebec households surveyed by Statistics Canada who have an air conditioner or a heat pump in 2025.
This is a leap of 10 percentage points compared to 2019, where 59 % of Quebecers declared to have one of the two types of air conditioning devices. In 2013, barely 54 % of households in Quebec had an air conditioner.
What does science say?
Also according to the same study, from May to October, the average temperature of a Canadian home with air conditioning is 21.3 ° C. In the Atlantic region, it is rather 19.8 ° C.
Beware of too cold temperatures, however warns the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ).
“Complelimatization is a use of too low temperatures over an overly long period that will have negative health effects,” said the scientific advisor to the Inspq, Patrick Poulin.
It is therefore rather recommended to air conditioning between 22 and 25 degrees in order to avoid a temperature difference that is too high at the output outside.
“When we always stay cold for long periods, we lose in adaptability,” adds Poulin. “Our body is a fantastic adaptation machine. Except that for that, we must be exposed to heat, ”adds his colleague Stéphane Perron, a doctor-adviser in the same team.
In addition to comfort benefits, air conditioning is an asset for those with allergies and for the most vulnerable to intense heat.
The watchword of the Inspq is therefore the following: maintain your air conditioners to ensure good air quality, prefer short air conditioning periods with long periods without break and, above all, hydrate yourself.
For owners and richest
The favorable tendency to air conditioning is not unique in Quebec, but well common to almost the whole country where a little more than two thirds (68 %) of households air conditioning at home.
All the same, from one province to another, the use of air conditioning is not the same. Ontarians are the large champions of the number of households using air conditioning, or four out of five (83 %). Far behind is British Columbia, where only 45 % of households are air conditioned.
Another observation, the richest, or those earning more than $ 150,000 before taxes, are more likely to have an air conditioning device (83 %). Conversely, the least wealthy, or those earning less than $ 50,000 before taxes, are less so (55 %).
In the same line, 68 % of owners of an accommodation have an air conditioner, compared to 52 % of tenants.
The survey was carried out by Statistics Canada with 20,000 people in 10 provinces between February and April 2025.
