Moroccan Immigrant Family Awarded $23,000 for Decade of Squalid Living Conditions in Quebec

Adil Saksak and his family had left Morocco to emigrate to Quebec in 2010. Upon arrival, the head of the family had rented an apartment in the Villeray neighborhood for $1,090 per month. The man was far from imagining that his family would live in difficult conditions. During the summer of 2017, the family faced mold problems and rodent infestations, then three water infiltrations caused by a sanitary sewer break on the upper floor.

"[This] caused significant water damage and filth in the tenants’ bedroom, who receive the wastewater from the toilet directly in their face while they sleep," said arbitrator Jean Gauthier. To this are added electrical problems, heating problems and a humidity rate of 80%. Based on these problems, the city will order the evacuation of the housing for the time necessary for corrections to be made, reports Le Journal de Montréal.

The Saksak family moved to a hotel for six weeks. Upon their return, the situation was far from rosy. The water heater had been broken for 10 years, and the owner replaced it, but asked the tenants to pay the rent during the period when they were staying at the hotel, the same source specifies.

The representative of the owner, Nadir Berkane, during the hearing at the Régie du logement, held the Saksak family responsible, as it would have tried to prevent masonry work on the building. According to him, it is only from this moment that all the problems began. In the eyes of the arbitrator, this version is "not very credible". He condemns the owner to pay a rent reduction of $9,588, as well as $13,000 in material, moral and punitive damages.