‘Prisoner of my own apartment’: Disabled Montreal senior trapped in home due to work on elevator

Montrealer Harald Osberg has been trapped in his Nuns’ Island apartment for the last month after the elevator in the building has been out of commission since June 2 and won’t be working for at least another six weeks.

The 86-year-old has severe osteoarthritis and uses canes and a wheelchair to get around, so the elevator is his only way down from the fourth floor to ground level.

“Two days from now, it’s a month that I’m a prisoner in my own apartment,” he said.

Osberg said that the construction notice was only given to him a week in advance on May 13, as the construction was due to start May 20.

The work was then delayed for a period of two weeks, but even despite the extra time, Osberg said that it wasn’t enough to find another fully furnished, wheelchair-accessible home.

He said that he’s called his apartment building’s management four times to no avail.

“They all assured me somebody would call back nobody ever did,” he said. “In other words, with the four phone calls, I was totally ignored.”

With nowhere else to move – he is trapped in his apartment until the end of the summer. 

“Until I have a place to go to that is furnished, I’m stuck here. I can’t do anything,” he said. “I think this move without any consideration on their part was brutal.”

Steven Laperrière, general director of Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), said that an elevator under construction for that long is illegal. 

“If you need a wheelchair as a mobility device and you don’t have other means than the elevators to get out of your home for, for running errands or what have you, that’s an infringement to liberty to safety.”

The landlord of Osberg’s apartment is Structures Metropolitaines – a subsidiary of Boardwalk. The regional director of the company told CityNews in a statement that due to the potential impacts on residents, they made the decision to postpone the start of the work to allow for more preparation time.

An on-site concierge service was implement to support residents during the process, including assistance with errands, groceries, and daily needs.

The elevator underwent a technical evaluation, as it is 60 years old.

“A complete modernization was necessary to ensure long-term safety, reliability, and compliance with current standards,” said Pierre-Olivier Lauzon of Boardwalk. “This is not a simple repair, but a major infrastructure upgrade conducted by certified and professionally trained elevator technicians.”

Lauzon said the team has been in direct contact with residents who may need additional support.

“We have extended personalized assistance options based on each individual’s circumstances. While we remain fully committed to helping all residents through this temporary disruption, it’s important to note that not all support offers have been accepted.”

Osberg said that the concierge service consists of two staff members and isn’t enough to meet his needs.

“I’m not ready to trust even two people without experience, managing to get me up the stairs,” he said.

For Laperriere – the only suitable solution would be to move Osberg to a replacement apartment. 

“The only way to us that, that is a situation like that is acceptable is if you offer another apartment adapted to his needs,” he said.

“If I find a place, I can’t check it out. Somebody has to go and find out that it’s wheelchair accessible, that it fits my requirements and that it’s suitable for me,” said Osberg. “And then I have to take the gamble and just go and then it means hopefully the fire department, because I don’t know how else I could get out. It won’t be the concierge.”

With Montreal’s July 1 Moving Day fast approaching, Laperrière said that renters with reduced mobility should make sure that their apartment buildings have more than one elevator. 

He also said that landlords should ensure that adaptive apartments for disabled tenants are found on the ground floor. 

“Why make adaptive departments on the third and fourth floor? Let’s do that at the first floor. So that would, that would address a lot of the issues.”

Laperrière also said that the best thing that tenants can do is complain – and that’s exactly what Osberg is planning to do. 

He’s looking to hire lawyers in order to present the case to the Quebec’s housing tribunal, known as the TAL. 

“The worst of it is, am I going to be there for two months, three months?” Osberg said .”I have no idea if it’s 10 weeks or if the 10 could turn into 15 weeks.”