Student housing at the University of Ottawa (U of O) has been working to address concerns of black mould being present in at least one residence building.
Dev Thain, a masters of business administration student at U of O currently living with a roommate in Brooks residence building, said problems with his basement unit began on “day one” of his rental.
“We got an inspector to come to the unit, and we found a lot of black mould,” Thain said. “My housemate is coughing a lot.”
According to Health Canada’s website, mould is caused by damp conditions and is often found on drywall, wood, and carpeting. By breathing in the spores released by mould, people can experience coughing, shortness of breath, and asthma symptoms.
Thain added the heating unit in his residence apartment doesn’t work, and he has been instructed by U of O residence services not to turn on the heating in his room. By doing so, he was warned the mould could dry and cause the spores to pop.
Students needing “repairs, general maintenance work or the replacement of an item” are instructed to fill out an online maintenance request form, according to U of O’s student housing website.
After submitting a maintenance request, maintenance workers will first visit to “assess the situation” before returning on a second visit to fix the issue, though a work order requiring a contractor or specialized trade worker “might extend the waiting period.” Students are also encouraged to call housing services if repairs are taking longer than expected to be completed.
Thain said he reached out to residence services in the beginning of September, but to no avail.
“We went to residence services and we asked people to clean off the apartment, to just sort of address these issues. And they kind of went unheeded,” Thain said. “Occasionally they’d come maybe a few weeks or even a month after certain complaints.”
He added that he and his roommates have paid external cleaners out of their own pockets to fix the issues with the apartment.
“We’re trying to deal with it as best as we can,” Thain said.
In an email sent to Thain on March 3 by Derek MacPherson, co-ordinator of residence life with U of O housing services, said repairs would begin on March 6.
“We will have someone come in on Monday [March 6] to steam clean the carpets in the afternoon. We will also have someone come into the unit and cut out a portion of the wall in your bedroom near the window to do an assessment for [mould],” MacPherson said in the email, which was provided to The Charlatan by Thain.
MacPherson also wrote that a blind currently installed backwards would be fixed to allow for better airflow, and that he would look into having the carpeting in the unit replaced. He added Thain should consider moving to a different residence unit, providing information on two other basement apartments with no carpeting.
“If you are experiencing potential health issues, we can have you moved to an emergency room while we assess the options,” MacPherson said in the email.
Because of his “very full schedule,” Thain said he doesn’t have the time to move to a different unit.
But Thain said MacPherson did order a number of repairs as promised, and took care of the mould on the walls.
Having paid $806 a month until April 2017 to live in his current apartment, Thain said he was told by U of O housing services he could sublet his unit for the remainder of his lease.
University residences in Ontario are not subject to the province’s Residential Tenancies Act. Students living in residence sign a private contract with the university, according to Thain, and the termination of a lease is at the discretion of the university.
“I initially called the housing services in the city proper, and they told me that they couldn’t do a full inspection of the unit because we weren’t under the [Residential Tenancies] Act,” Thain said. “That’s one of the privileges I was missing.”
The U of O currently has 11 residence buildings, ranging in size from 163 to 708 students, according to their housing services website.
Neither the U of O’s housing services, MacPherson, nor the U of O acting manager of media relations for corporate issues and administration have replied to requests for comment.
– Photo by Luke Carroll
