I thought canadians had air conditioning? we don't really do air con in England only offices really have it

Seeing how you get 30 C in the summer, maybe it's time to invest the little 200 dollars. Canadians get pretty much the same weather.

just up the road from where I was staying for uni they were building some new houses and there's no sign of aircon units for those either

Canadians don't get air con by default either. They purchase units if they want one.