Quebec Private seniors’ residences will have 3 more years to install sprinklers [Video]

Quebec announced that private seniors’ residences (RPAs) that are still not equipped with sprinklers will have three more years than originally planned to install them. The announcement once again postponed the obligation to do so, which was originally scheduled for 2020.

Seniors Minister Sonia Bélanger confirmed on Thursday that a third postponement had been granted to RPA owners with regard to the installation of sprinklers, saying that she wanted to “limit the number of RPAs that could have to cease operations if they do not comply with regulatory requirements.”

• WATCH: Many seniors’ residences don’t have sprinklers

The financial assistance programme designed to support RPA owners in this transition will also be improved.

In the wake of the tragedy in L’Isle-Verte, where a fire at the Résidence du Havre on Jan. 23, 2014, claimed the lives of 32 elderly people, the government announced that all but the very small RPAs would have to install sprinklers by Dec. 2 …