$ 70M pledged to pay for sprinklers in seniors’ homes
Even in a thrifty budget, the Quebec government has found money to subsidize the installation of sprinklers in certified seniors’ homes after making them mandatory.
Spurred to action by the fire that devastated the Résidence du Havre in L’Isle- Verte on Jan. 23, 2014, Quebec has set aside $ 70.6 million over the next five years to retrofit homes with sprinklers.
All but one of the 32 victims of the fire lived in the older wing of the building, before sprinklers became obligatory in new residences at least four storeys high.
In his report on the fire, veteran coroner Cyrille Delâge once again urged the government to make sprinklers mandatory in homes for the elderly and to fund their installation. Delâge has been calling for sprinklers in seniors’ homes for two decades.
“If the Delâge report says we need sprinklers in seniors’ homes, we have to do it for their security,” said Sam Hamad, the minister responsible for Quebec’s building code. “The safety of the elderly has no price.”
The government’s budget says the subsidy is to help defray some of the installation costs so the burden doesn’t fall on residents in the shape of rent increases.
The subsidy comes short of the $ 253 million that Quebec expects the renovation of seniors’ homes will cost over 10 years.
“Owners must pay too, that’s important,” Hamad said. The Ontario government didn’t offer any subsidy when they made sprinkler systems mandatory in retirement homes two years ago, he noted.
Only a third of the 1,900 seniors’ homes in Quebec are equipped with sprinklers. The majority of those that still require them are small residences of fewer than 30 people.
The generosity of the subsidy will depend on the size of the home. The owners of residences housing 30 people or fewer will be eligible for coverage of 60 per cent of the installation costs. The subsidy drops to 40 per cent for those with 31 to 99 residents, and 20 per cent for large homes accommodating 100 or more people. More than half of Quebecers who live in seniors’ home reside in large residences.
A few municipalities, including Montreal, have their own subsidy to equip a seniors’ home with sprinklers.
Instructions about how to apply for Quebec’s assistance program will be released this year.
For now, Quebec’s building code only requires sprinklers in residences for seniors with limited mobility.
The rules will change April 1 to cover almost all seniors’ homes, but owners will have a five- year grace period to comply with the new standard. There will be some exceptions, including single- family dwellings housing fewer than 10 seniors, and two- storey residences with an outside exit door and stairway.
If the Delâge report says we need sprinklers in seniors’ homes, we have to do it for their security. The safety of the elderly has no price.
Quebec’s new subsidy for sprinklers in seniors’ homes follows Alberta’s lead.
Last fall, the Alberta government offered a $ 70- million subsidy to retrofit seniors’ homes with sprinklers before Dec. 1.
For s ome, t he s um wasn’t enough.
“It’s sad that in this rich province, we can’t afford to protect all seniors. Only triage the most dangerous ones,” Bill Moore Kilgannon, CEO of Public Interest Alberta, said via Twitter.