Residents forced out of Côte-des-Neiges apartment building due to risk of collapse

Residents in a dozen apartments in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood were forced out of their homes due to their building being at risk of collapse.

Residents of a building on Decarie Boulevard were forced to make a quick exit on Wednesday due to it being at risk of collapse.

The City of Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace (CDN-NDG) borough ordered the entrance barricaded to the evacuated building near the corner of Monkland Avenue, across the street from the Villa Maria metro station.

Borough spokesperson Etienne Brunet said that the owner of the building was carrying out work in the basement without a permit.

“We requested an engineer’s report based on our inspectors’ findings,” he told CTV News. “When the requested report was not received, the borough commissioned a firm, at the owner’s expense, to obtain a complete assessment of the building’s structural condition.”

After getting the report, the borough ordered the building evacuated until corrective work could be done and a structural engineer be able to certify that it is safe.

“In collaboration with our partners, all tenants have been taken care of and will be housed in hotels or at the YMCA, and we will ensure that they can return to their homes as quickly as possible,” said Brunet.

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Twelve apartments and two businesses were vacated, according to the borough.

Nearby buildings were also temporarily evacuated but later declared safe and residents returned home.