Several residents in an apartment building in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood have been without heat for more than two weeks.
Jonas Kempeneers, a tenant in the building, shared his frustration with the ongoing issue. “We have a small portable heater that we got from the landlord, but due to faulty electric circuits, it’s not really working,” Kempeneers said.
According to a letter posted in the building’s lobby, the furnace, which supplies heat to the radiators in some units, had to be shut off due to damage. The letter said repairs would take place in the coming days, but many units are still without heat.
Some residents have temporarily relocated to unoccupied units with heat.
According to Quebec’s housing tribunal (TAL), during colder months, units must be kept at about 21 degrees Celsius.
“The only way to heat our apartment, or get it above a certain degree, is to run this smaller heater night and day, which I don’t think these machines are made for,” said Kempeneers.
Montreal’s fire department is warning tenants to exercise caution when using portable heaters.
“Place a unit away from furniture, curtains, and fabrics. Plug the unit directly into an outlet without an extension cord,” said William Murray, section chief with the Montreal fire department.
Kempeneers says he has gone to the housing tribunal to address the issue. He says getting in touch with the landlord is difficult.
The landlord told CTV News that the building’s old heating system is causing complications and that he is in the process of transitioning to an electric heating system.
However, he added that a few residents are refusing to make the switch, further complicating the situation.
“We are doing our best to connect tenants to the new system in order to provide heat as fast as possible, and we will pay the difference in Hydro bills,” the landlord said in a statement.
The borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is aware of the situation.
Marianne Durand, who is in charge of communications, said the heating system was evaluated by an expert and they concluded that the heating system is not repairable in the short term. The owner will have to carry out work to correct the situation she says.
“The work in progress is to install a permanent electric baseboard system. We have informed the RBQ to ensure that the electrical work is done according to standards,” she said.
Durand added that the borough has issued statements of offence to the landlord and will be following the situation closely.
