Bill aims to hold elevator contractors responsible for fixing outages

TORONTO — Maintenance contractors would be held responsible for getting broken-down elevators up and running in relatively short order under proposed novel legislation in Ontario that seeks to address what some have deemed a crisis. The legislation, which also calls for changes to the provincial building code, is expected to be introduced on Wednesday by Liberal MPP Han Dong, who has spent months crafting the bill. Under the Reliable Elevators Act, elevators in most buildings would have to be repaired within 14 days — seven days for those in long-term-care and retirement homes. To achieve the aim, the bill aims to amend the definition of a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act to include those who hire elevator-maintenance contractors.

Dong said he was inspired to act after The Canadian Press reported last summer on extensive problems in the elevator industry, and he was getting an earful by constituents in his Toronto riding. Apart from frequent outages, he said, paramedics on one occasion took more than an hour to get a senior down from the 11th floor of a building because the only elevator large enough was out of service.

The Canadian Press investigation last year uncovered widespread elevator problems across Canada — from people getting trapped, to seniors stuck in their apartments for weeks on end.