Pierrefonds residents frustrated as pool fences considered not up to code

Some in Quebec are being told their existing fences are not acceptable, weeks before the new provincial pool fence bylaw comes into effect on Sept. 30.

Mazdak Ardalan has three young children, and his pool fence, a non-rigid Enfants Secure enclosure made of PVC synthetic mesh, was inspected recently.

“He said, ‘So, that fence you have is considered material non-rigide so it’s not authorized,’” said the Pierrefonds resident.

His Montreal West Island neighbour, Tom Di Nunzio, has the same fence and never suspected there would be a problem because the fence is shown on the Quebec government’s own pool fence bylaw rule book.

“That’s the fence that we have,” said Di Nunzio. “So as per the provincial bylaw, that’s the fence. This is what’s here. When we go to the City Hall, they had the same sheet, and they just have this one crossed off.”

Di Nunzio asked the borough why it doesn’t accept the fence when the province does, and he received a letter.

“No independent study was conducted to make the decision to prohibit non-rigid materials as fencing for pool enclosures,” the letter reads.

• READ MORE: Pool fence installers slammed as deadline for Quebec safety changes approaches

Enfant Secure president Matthieu Lalonde says his product is tested, safe and accepted in most areas of the province.

“I would say more than 98 per cent of them accept our product,” said Lalonde.

Pierrefonds seems to be in that 2 per cent, and Lalonde said that some pool owners will have to spend more.

“With the new regulation, people have to put some fence around their pools, and on top of that, they refuse our fence, which is an affordable one,” he said.

Both Ardalan and Di Nunzio paid around $2,000 for their current fences, and the estimates they received on the new rigid fences were much higher at around $8,000.

They submitted their concerns to the Montreal ombudsman and were told that municipalities are free to go above and beyond other jurisdictions.

The Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough did not respond to a request for comment from CTV News.

With the deadline for pool fences looming, Ardalan has been waiting nine weeks for a new permit, and the inspector advised him to sell his existing one, perhaps to a jurisdiction just a few streets away where there are no problems with his fence.