No charges in case of Montreal area private care home where dozens died of COVID-19  

MONTREAL – Quebec’s Crown prosecutor’s office says the owners of a Montreal-area long-term care home where dozens died during the first wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic will not face criminal charges.  

The office said today in a statement that after an “exhaustive” investigation the evidence does not meet the high bar for criminal charges in the case of the Herron long-term care home.  

Forty-seven people died at the Montreal-area facility in the spring of 2020, and a report commissioned by the provincial government accused the owners of “organizational negligence” that resulted in a failure to meet residents’ needs.  

The Crown says the decision not to lay charges does not minimize the “tragic events” that took place at the home, nor does it rule out that civil or ethical violations could have been committed.  

It says it cannot explain its decision to the families of the victims until the completion of a coroner’s inquest into the deaths.  

Lawyers for the residents and their families announced in March they had agreed on a $5.5-million settlement with the facility’s owners.   

Feature image: Plush toys and flowers are shown outside Residence Herron in the Montreal suburb of Dorval on May 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes