Montreal seniors' home residents take building owner to court over apartment conversion plans

About 200 residents of a seniors' home in downtown Montreal have filed a court injunction in an attempt to stop the building's new owner from converting it into apartments.

"It kills me. There's nothing else in the area," said Michael Hubert, who has lived at Mont-Carmel seniors' home for nearly a decade.

In January, he says, he got a letter saying the on-site nurse, medical alert system, security and other services would be gone in six months.

He says residents were told they could either stay and pay three per cent more rent or leave by August.

The residence was sold to new owners for $40 million in December, according to Manuel Johnson, the lawyer hired by the residents.

He says that, in the deed of sale, the new owner agreed to maintain it as a seniors' home, but later discovered the building needed major work.

"If he didn’t do his due diligence, why did he agree to maintain the services?" said Johnson.

CTV News reached out to Quebec's Seniors' Minister Marguerite Blais, who wouldn’t comment because the case is now before the courts.

The residents' case will be back in court next month.  

An association that represents private seniors' homes says it has become more challenging to run a residence and wants support from the government in the face of rising insurance premiums.

"Some of them went from $20 thousand to $450 thousand just for the director insurance," said Marc Fortin, president of the Private Residence Owners' Association.

In the last two years, nearly 150 homes have closed due to rising costs.