An 'unmanageable' problem

Some seniors homes struggle to stay afloat due to regulations, rising costs

- MORGAN LOWRIE

Quebec mandated sprinklers be installed in all seniors homes with at least 10 units after a fire in 2014 killed 32 residents of a home in Isle-Verte, above.

The mandate has created challenges for small-scale seniors residences, hundreds of which have closed in the past five years due to what critics say are high sprinkler prices and difficulty finding contractors.

Jacques Marchildon says sprinklers were the nail in the coffin for Villa Marie-Ange, the 14-person seniors residence he coowns in St-Adelphe, Que. In the coming months, the two-storey building in the Mauricie region between Montreal and Quebec City will be put up for sale and the people currently living there will all be moved elsewhere.

His will join a list of more than 500 seniors homes that have closed in the past five years, according to the province. Owners and researchers cite as factors the burden of stricter government regulations, rising costs, and an aging population of tenants requiring increasingly complex health services.

For small residences, the sprinkler issue looms especially large.