Quebec postpones until 2027 the obligation for RPAs to equip themselves with sprinklers

Photo: Jacques Boissinot Archives The Canadian Press The program aimed at helping affected RPA owners pay part of the cost of installing sprinklers will be enhanced, announced Minister Sonia Bélanger.

Florence Morin-Martel

Published at 8:32 a.m. Updated at 11:07 a.m.

• Québec

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In Quebec, more than a quarter of private seniors' residences (RPA) are still without sprinklers. However, they will benefit from a reprieve, given that the deadline to equip themselves with these devices will be moved from December 2024 to December 2027.

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This was announced Thursday by Sonia Bélanger, Minister responsible for Seniors. The majority of the 363 RPAs that do not have sprinklers have 30 rental units or less, she specified. Of these, 271 are in the process of installing these devices.

The program aimed at helping the owners of the RPAs concerned pay part of the cost of installing sprinklers will also be increased, the minister pointed out. The amount granted for the installation of an independent water supply system will therefore increase from $200,000 to $300,000.

Sonia Bélanger hopes to prevent the closure of establishments that fail to comply with the requirements. “I am sensitive to the reality of small RPAs. Closures must be avoided at all costs, as they have significant and direct consequences on the residential supply.”

A year after the 2014 fire that killed 32 people in a retirement home in L’Isle-Verte, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec announced the publication of a regulation requiring the mandatory installation of sprinkler systems in this type of establishment.

The RPAs, which initially had five years to comply, were then given a reprieve until 2022, then 2024 and finally until 2027.

More details to follow.