The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a settlement for residents of a downtown Windsor apartment building rendered uninhabitable after a fire in 2019.
The $7.3-million settlement was reached last January, and Justice Spencer Nicholson approved it on October 31 after commercial and residential tenants launched a class action against the numbered Ontario company that owns the building, Tyco Integrated Fire and Security Canada, Johnson Controls, Troy Life and Fire Safety Ltd, MK Electric Ltd, API Alarms, and other third parties.
The fire, on November 12, 2019, started in the basement garage of the building. An electrical fault sparked the blaze, and fire officials ruled the cause accidental.
Shortly after the fire, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit ordered the building's evacuation because water and power to the building weren't restored. Many of the residential tenants struggled months afterwards to find accommodations.
The fire displaced all of the tenants, residential and commercial, and forced the City of Windsor to relocate the Provincial Offences Court to City Hall Square.
All parties named in the class-action had until July 29, 2022, to opt out, but the City of Windsor did not. By the time it had assessed its damages, it was too late.
It objects to the settlement and sought a dismissal, saying relocating the Provincial Offences Court costs more than $4-million. That exceeds the $500,000 Commercial Tenants Fund.
Justice Nicholson did not dismiss the settlement, saying, "It is my opinion that rejecting this settlement at the behest of the city, when it could have opted out, subjects the individual tenants to further litigation risk and does not promote access to justice. The city simply does not have the same access to justice that individual citizens have."
The City of Windsor also sued its insurers, and that action remains outstanding.
Residential tenants who do not wish to reclaim their apartment will be entitled to at least $5,500. Those who do return to Westcourt Place won't be entitled to that sum, but can make a claim under the distribution plan outlined in the settlement.
The building is still not open to tenants, but 17 claimants signalled their intentions to move back in.
