Short-term supports offered to residents forced to leave apartment building in Langford

The city of Langford says talks with the province, and the owner of a building deemed structurally unsafe, have led to more supports for residents who were asked to leave RidgeView Place on Monday. 

The apartment building, in Greater Victoria, is facing its second structural safety risk since it was built in 2018. 

Late last week the oversight body Engineering and Geoscientists B.C. (EGBC) told the city and the building owner, Centurion Property Associates, that it was investigating further structural concerns — after initial risks were believed to be remediated in 2022. 

On Monday, the city and owners decided to ask residents to move out, leaving them scrambling to find new housing in a tight and pricey rental market.

Now, the province has activated its Emergency Support Services program, which will cover five days of accommodation and food, and can also help cover transportation costs if that's needed from residents' temporary homes. 

Residents need to register to take advantage of the supports.

The owner, Centurion, announced Thursday it was expanding the money it was offering residents from $1,000 to $2,500 for what it called "a gesture of compassionate assistance."

It has also extended the hours that people can call to ask questions and get help. 

Residents have said it was difficult to reach people at the company, which is based in Toronto. 

'People are still out of a permanent home' 

Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson said Thursday that while he's glad the city has pushed for the extra supports, they only service the short-term. 

"People are still out of a permanent home," said Goodmanson, adding there is much work to be done to determine what exactly the building's risks are — and what it will take to fix them. 

"The city has said that the owner has to have a comprehensive, independent, structural review of the entire building," said Goodmanson. 

While the city is the one that approved the new occupancy permit last year, Goodmanson says it did so on a professional reliance model — one he says nearly all municipalities follow. 

That means as long as the building owner, and the structural engineer of record, say the building is safe and meets the standards of EGBC, it will be approved. 

EGBC has said it's conducting an investigation and has refused to speak publicly this week. 

CBC News asked housing minister Ravi Kahlon Thursday if the province would consider changing the professional reliance model. 

He said this is a rare situation, so there are no immediate plans to step away from the model. 

"At this stage," said Kahlon, "we're contacting [EGBC] to find out what exactly happened, so there'll be a bit of a review on this building … we want to get to the bottom of what happened in this situation."