Ecole des Decouvreurs elementary school is shown in the Montreal borough of Lasalle where children and staff were evacuated following a carbon monoxide leak on Jan. 14, 2019.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Carbon-monoxide detectors will become mandatory in all Quebec schools following an incident this week at a Montreal elementary school that sent at least 43 people to hospital, the provincial government announced Friday.
Ahead of formally changing the rules, Education Minister Jean-François Roberge has told school principals across the province to confirm by next Tuesday that detectors for carbon monoxide and methane are present in their buildings.
They are also being asked to carry out air-quality testing and inspections of their fuel-burning heating systems as soon as possible.
The new measures follow a gas leak at Montreal’s École des Découvreurs on Monday that saw 43 students and adults transported to hospital. Other patients suffering from symptoms showed up at hospital later. Mr. Roberge said he stands with families and staff at the school.
“An event of this kind has never occurred in our milieu, and I hope that it does not happen again,” he said in a statement. “I expect all schools to have a carbon-monoxide detector as soon as possible, even before it becomes a regulatory requirement.”
Under existing provincial regulations, carbon-monoxide detectors are mandatory only in public buildings where people sleep, such as hospitals, seniors’ residences and hotels. But Mr. Roberge said he plans to change the rules to include schools. The government will also require yearly inspections of the detectors.
The Régie du bâtiment du Québec, which oversees the safety of buildings in the province, confirmed this week that carbon-monoxide detectors are not mandatory in schools. The devices are however recommended in buildings that burn fuel as a “responsible, effective, easy and inexpensive action.”
The Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest school board, does not require the detectors in its nearly 600 schools. A board spokesman said the detectors are mandatory only in areas where students sleep, such as outdoor education centres.
“They are not required for schools and as a result are not present,” a board spokesman said this week.
Firefighters identified a defective heating system at École des Découvreurs as the source of the gas, which left dozens of students and staff feeling nauseated and dizzy. Some were vomiting.
An emergency-room physician said nine children lost consciousness at the school.
Health officials confirmed the day after the incident that all those taken to hospital because of the gas had been discharged, but Mr. Roberge noted Friday that one of the children is still showing symptoms from the exposure. The school reopened on Wednesday after tests showed the air quality was safe.
Diane Lamarche-Venne, chairwoman of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school board, said the school had gas detectors but they failed to alert people to the danger. She said the detectors and furnace had passed an inspection last October.
With files from Michelle McQuigge