[ianmarcinkowski]

Such a scold-y attitude. Window air conditioning units work in any fully-openable window. They are $150CAD. Portable air conditioners work in almost every configuration of openable window. They are $250-500CAD.

It does take time, but it MOSTLY takes a shipment of small units to local retailers for normal lower-and-middle-class people to buy for the price of a month's worth of beer. Canada's economy is much smaller than the EU, yet somehow you can walk into a Walmart, Home Depot or Canadian Tire and buy a $150 air conditioner to install in your own home with 15-20 minutes of effort.

Canadian houses and older buildings are built to withstand winter and somehow we manage. We have a lot of 100 year old buildings (my house for example). Office buildings and hospitals are slightly more complicated, but I think Europe invented windows a long time ago

[deliciousturkey]

Window AC's don't really work with the styles of windows that are common here (at least in Finland). The windows typically swivel from the side, with multiple planes opening separately. They don't open vertically like in the US. This is also why window AC units are not sold here.

But getting a portable AC unit is relatively simple, they definitely don't need "re-engineering the environment". Sadly most portable AC's here are single-hose units which are not great. They are cheap though with prices similar to yours, cheapest at around €200. Mini-split systems are very common though as a retrofit: On apartments you can almost always put the outside unit on the balcony.