Must the City Pay for Storm Drain Repairs on Private Property Threatening to Collapse?

Our municipal lawyer Audrey-Anne Béland was interviewed by the team of La Facture’s program, aired on ICI Radio-Canada on November 15.

For more than two years, a Sainte-Thérèse family has been struggling with sinkholes more than a meter deep appearing in their backyard. This situation, caused by deficiencies and an obstruction in a culvert installed 35 years ago to channel a stream, would cost nearly $500,000 to repair. Although this culvert is installed on private property, the city channels its stormwater through it. Who should pay for this work?

During the interview, our lawyer Audrey-Anne Béland was very clear. In her opinion, "the city must do the work and must pay for it in the first place because of its obligation to intervene quickly," she says. She explained that the law states that such work to remove obstructions from a watercourse must be done promptly and without delay when, as in this case, there is a threat to the safety of the property.