The City of Windsor has secured a $100,000 fine against the owners of a 120-unit downtown apartment building who failed to provide vital services to its residents.
In September 2022, the central heating system in the apartment located at Ouellette Avenue and Hanna Street had failed, prompting the city to issue an order for immediate repair.
However, conditions worsened by mid-November and residents were forced to leave the apartment due to unsafe living conditions such as no heat, no reliable electricity and no functioning life safety systems.
Following the evacuation, the city in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross provided a number of accommodations to approximately 50 displaced residents such as a temporary emergency shelter at the Atkinson Community Centre, overnight accommodations, meals and medical care, transportation assistance, and more.
The total cost of the nearly three week operation exceeded $200,000 - funded by the city and community partners. On June 25, 2025, the property owners were convicted in Provincial Offences Court and were fined $100,000 plus court costs.
John Revell, Chief Building Official with the City of Windsor, says the city started looking at the costs after the incident occurred.
"Transit Windsor, social services, the building department just to name a few, and they came together and brought resources, assisted the tenants to find alternative locations, brought in buses for warming, we had drinks and coffee there for people, it was an all-out effort."
He says the hope is that this is a learning opportunity for other building owners.
"This is a strong message that building owners do need to take responsibility, and they do need to work with the city, and they need to ensure that their building is adequate and observes life safety systems, and protects the tenants. Otherwise there will be a very significant fine."
Revell says it's rare to see a fine this large, but the courts were aware of the amount of effort the city put in.
"When you start to unpackage the timelines, and the resistance that was put up by the owners of the building who were from out of town, and just the lack of cooperation we were getting and the efforts that the city was trying to go through to work with them and to help them - it was just simply ignored. And I think that that was a factor for the courts."
At the time of the incident, support also extended to pets, with the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society and Housing Information Services providing temporary shelter for dogs, cats, and small animals.
Marda Management was overseeing the property until the end of 2022. A new property management company called Ontario Property Management then took over the apartment building.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides