Montreal tenants still not able to go home 3 weeks after neighbouring building wall collapsed

The tenants of a Montreal building say they haven't been able to return home after a neighbouring wall collapsed.

Cole Johnson has been living out of his suitcase at a friend’s house for three weeks despite being assured he’d be able to go back home within days of a wall next door collapsing, forcing the evacuation of his building.

When a wall of 5992 Parc Ave. crumbled on March 17, the building next door had to be evacuated for the tenants’ safety. Johnson said the fire department told him the building would be demolished within 48 hours and he and his neighbours would be able to go home – but that hasn’t happened due to red tape.

“It’s been very stressful. It’s very unsettling to be uprooted from your home and forced to live elsewhere, he said.

Johnson added that not all his neighbours are able to stay with family or friends and some are having to stay in Airbnbs or hotel rooms.

“You know, our lives don’t stop because of the situation … we still have to navigate everything else that’s going on in our lives, on top of the fact that our housing situation is unclear, we still don’t have a clear timeline for when we can move back in,” said Johnson.

Johnson’s landlord Gordon Johnston says he has been in communication with the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and the building next door’s owner nearly every day to try and find a solution. He says he’s at his wit’s end.

“We have an empty building and 12 tenants with no place to go, and we have no revenue,” he said.

He hasn’t asked his tenants to pay rent for April, and he said three tenants already broke their leases due to the delays.

“A month, a year, a decade – according to the city, it takes the time he takes,” said Johnston.

• READ MORE: Tenants stranded after neighbouring building wall collapses

The collapsed building has been vacant for years, and the borough said it authorized its demolition on April 25, 2024 due to its condition. However, the borough said the permit has not been issued “as the owner has still not paid the costs of severing and walling the sewers and aqueduct.”

Still, a spokesperson for the borough insisted that “this is not a bureaucratic issue.”

“The building can be demolished once he has his permit. We are prepared to issue it if he provides the required payments and documents,” said Geneviève Allard.

She added that the owner approached contractors for demolition, but it’s “complex, given the urban context, the dangerous nature of the building and the possible presence of asbestos.”

The Régie du bâtiment du Québec, the worker safety board (CNESST) and the city’s legal affairs department are also involved in the case, said Allard.

CTV News reached out to the two owners of 5992 Parc Ave. listed on the Quebec business registry. One refused to comment, the other has yet to respond.

Johnston and his tenants say it’s unacceptable that the situation will soon have lasted a full month. They want the city to take charge of the demolition process immediately and foot the bill to the owner afterward.

“These issues are in the hands of the city’s legal affairs department, which is currently examining all the options on the table. Everyone is keen to move the matter forward,” said Allard, adding the city could not comment further.

In the meantime, Johnson is hoping the situation will resolve by the time his friends’ lease ends June 1 – forcing him to relocate once again.

“Let this situation be a lesson to all building owners and city officials who are responsible that really it is a serious risk to have these abandoned buildings just completely unmonitored and unmaintained … and to only attend to them when a disaster like this happens,” he said.