The firm that owns the Ambassador Bridge is reacting to Windsor’s initiative to acquire several homes in the city’s west end.
On Thursday, the city revealed it is starting the process to take over 45 vacant and boarded properties, many of which are owned by businesses linked to the Ambassador Bridge owners, who have faced numerous legal disputes with the city for many years.
A statement from the Canadian Transit Company (CTC) indicates they are ready to demolish all remaining vacant buildings in Sandwich at their own expense, a plan they’ve had for quite some time.
The statement reads, “These expropriations will only result in unnecessary conflict, delay, and taxpayer expense. ” There’s a straightforward solution where we can tear down all of the structures-the city just needs to give permission-and then transfer nearly all these properties to them.”
In return for taking this action, CTC is looking for parts of roadways needed for their plaza expansion project at the base of the bridge. This new commercial vehicle inspection plaza was approved under a federal permit granted in 2017.
Since 2017, there has been ongoing negotiation between the city and CTC regarding some of these properties, costing around $3 million in legal and professional fees related to those talks.
Most of these homes are located along Indian Road, Edison Street, Bloomfield Road, and Felix Avenue; however, there are also houses on Rosedale Avenue, Elm Avenue, St. Antoine Street, and College Avenue.
Here’s CTC’s complete statement:
Residents in West End should know that CTC is ready to quickly demolish all its remaining vacant structures in Sandwich at its own cost-this has been our stance for years. All that’s needed from the City is approval for these demolitions. If they do so, we’ll move forward right away. Recently, emergency demolition orders were issued on select properties by the City which CTC is promptly complying with.
For many years now, CTC has made every attempt to take down all vacant houses in Sandwich by submitting multiple demolition permit requests and asking for emergency demolition orders while even resorting to lawsuits seeking permission for demolitions. However, City officials have continuously rejected these requests and used the sight of boarded-up houses as a way to criticize CTC.
Residents should be aware that an Ontario Superior Court has already ruled that it’s actually up to the City regarding those boarded-up homes:
“It is clear from the evidence in the case that it is not in dispute that the City passed by-laws that have prevented the demolition of the houses. There cannot be any disagreement on that.” (Desando v. Canadian Transit Company, March 21, 2017 hearing transcript, p. 54)
“it was very clear on all the evidence that it was the City that was responsible for [the empty houses’] continued presence through their decision not to issue demolition permits despite an order relating to most of those houses from land use planning committee.” (Desando v. Canadian Transit Company, 2018 ONSC 1859, Paragraph 62)
These expropriations will only lead to needless conflict and additional costs for taxpayers. A simple fix exists where we can remove all structures-the City just needs to allow this-and then hand over nearly all these properties back over.
The City knows well enough that CTC has been open about doing this for years if they receive those sections of roads necessary for our plaza expansion project. In fact, City Council initially approved this deal conceptually. Instead of finalizing it though, the City halted negotiations with us and hasn’t shown willingness to meet since 2026.
Now it seems like they prefer litigation over negotiation-a choice likely costing taxpayers millions more than needed. The City could have acquired these properties without incurring any costs simply by trading portions of surplus roads already approved as part of our plaza plans. Indeed if they go ahead with expropriation successfully, it could mean millions out-of-pocket costs as compensation coming directly from taxpayers’ wallets instead when we’re here prepared, dedicated, and ableto demolish any leftover vacant houses while completing transactions smoothly-saving everyone involved both time and money while finally resolving this drawn-out situation concerning abandoned homes within Sandwich area.”
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