Apartment building where Edmonton security guard was killed could reopen
An apartment building in central Edmonton that shut down late last year after a security guard was killed on-site may be allowed to reopen to tenants.
The City of Edmonton issued an emergency order on Dec. 23, 2024, to shutter the residential part of a mixed-use building, located at the corner of 106th Street and 107th Avenue, in the Central McDougall neighbourhood. The city cited escalating safety concerns putting residents and community at imminent risk.
The order, which displaced the building’s 64 residents, was issued about two weeks after Harshandeep Singh, 20, was fatally shot in the stairwell while on duty alone on Dec. 6.
Support workers have housed half of the evacuees as of this week, but the apartments could reopen if certain requirements are met, according to Tania Gonzalez, a city spokesperson.
“We are working with the property owner to ensure compliance with legislative regulations and address any outstanding issues to meet minimum housing standards,” Gonzalez told CBC News in an email.
“The timeline for reopening the residences depends on several mitigating factors, including landlord cooperation.”
CBC News reached Van Vuong, the property owner, by phone. He declined to comment.
Singh, an international student from India, had recently started working as a security guard when he was shot in the early morning of Dec. 6. It was the second shooting at the apartment building in two weeks.
But the building had long been on the radar of municipal and provincial officials due to frequent police calls and health violations. December’s abrupt relocation was the second time residents were forced to leave due to safety concerns in less than five years.
Over the past two years, the property amassed numerous health violations, such as cockroach infestations, the presence of mould, faulty heating and inoperable smoke alarms.
A proposal from the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) last May prompted the city to review the property’s business licence. Several conditions were imposed to help address criminal activity and disorder, as well as deficiencies in building management, maintenance and security, the city told CBC News.
Since its closure in December, the city’s residential inspection safety compliance team — composed of multiple agencies, including EPS and Alberta Health Services — has been investigating the apartment building’s conditions.
The team’s findings will not be made public, Gonzalez said.
Reviewing rules for landlords, security guards
In the wake of Singh’s death, Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis plans to review the legislation that regulates security guards, once an Occupational Health and Safety investigation is finished.
“The findings of this investigation will help inform the government’s review of Alberta’s Security Services and Investigators Act and help shape recommendations for strengthening existing requirements to potentially mitigate similar tragedies in the future,” Arthur Green, Ellis’s press secretary, told CBC News in an emailed statement last month.
Singh’s death could also lead to changes at the municipal level.
“A challenge that, I believe, is the case right now is that landlords are permitted on a site-by-site basis, so it’s hard to address more global behaviour,” Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson told CBC News Friday.
Stevenson said a review of business licensing is needed so the city “can look at patterns of behaviour to address issues that we’re seeing over and over again.”
Edmontonians can expect to see a motion on the matter in the coming weeks, she added.
Half of tenants housed
As of this week, 28 evacuees have secured permanent housing and four are living in transitional accommodations, said Gonzalez, the city spokesperson.
Nine more are being assisted by housing workers, while the rest are still in hotels, she said.
“Depending on individual needs and circumstances, the housing process can take an average of 60 days to find alternate housing once an individual is assigned a housing worker, and varies depending on market availability,” Gonzalez said.
Hani Quan, the city’s director of affordable housing and homelessness, told CBC News that there are no units available specifically for evacuees.
“It’s just not readily available. We don’t have housing waiting in the wings for these kinds of situations,” Quan said in an interview last month.
“Everyone’s just trying to funnel into the same system, so that’s a really a big part of the challenge.”
The cost of the hotel bill, which the city will pay, is not yet known.
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