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Ontario woman shares warning after a near-miss ceiling collapse at her short-term rental
Ontario woman shares warning after a near-miss ceiling collapse at her short-term rental

CTV News

time6 hours ago

  • General
  • CTV News

Ontario woman shares warning after a near-miss ceiling collapse at her short-term rental

A woman says AirBNB is refusing to refund her stay after the roof of her rental collapsed with her family inside. CTV's Karis Mapp has the story. A woman says AirBNB is refusing to refund her stay after the roof of her rental collapsed with her family inside. CTV's Karis Mapp has the story. A woman from Ottawa says she was staying at an AirBNB in Kitchener when a section of the ceiling collapsed near her family. Victoria Nguyen told CTV News she was in the city to introduce her young son to his great-grandparents. Her brother and father got to the AirBNB first. 'They sent me a picture,' Nguyen recalled. 'It was sagging, like the ceiling was sagging.' She was stunned when she saw it for herself. 'I was just shocked. I just looked at the ceiling. I was like, 'Oh, man. That looks like it's going to fall at any time.'' Nguyen said she was aware there had been water damage to the ceiling a week before her arrival. A test message from the host, which she shared with CTV News, described it as 'a small patch (3x4 feet) in the kitchen ceiling that bulged out a little.' She was also assured there was 'no safety hazard and the ceiling is intact.' Then, three days into her stay at the rental, the unthinkable. 'It happened right in front of my eyes because I was feeding my baby,' Nguyen explained. 'Suddenly, without any notice at all, [the ceiling] collapsed. It was loud, surprisingly. It was heavy. The drywall went down and it nearly missed my father.' airbnb ceiling damage short-term rental kitchener ottawa Ceiling damage at a short-term rental in Kitchener. (Courtesy: Victoria Nguyen) She said, had the timing been different, someone could have been seriously hurt. 'Me and my son were in the area all morning, so if something had happened to him, I just can't imagine. It was definitely scary.' Nguyen tried to contact the host to let him know about the ceiling collapse. After multiple failed attempts, she reached out directly to AirBNB who offered her a 30 per cent refund. 'I think it's because we stayed there for three days and it happened on our last day there,' she explained. 'But, to me, I feel like it doesn't matter which day it happened on. The point was that this never should have been listed at all.' CTV News also reached out to the host who denied contacting Nguyen about the damaged ceiling before her stay. He claimed she embellished the story in hopes of getting a full refund. airbnb ceiling damage short-term rental kitchener ottawa Ceiling damage at a short-term rental in Kitchener. (Courtesy: Victoria Nguyen) Nguyen said she was sharing her story because she wanted to warn others. 'I think AirBNB should have higher standards for the safety of their guests and take these situations more seriously. We're lucky that no one got hurt.' One expert said it's not unusual to hear about damage to a short-term rental. 'They're just trying to make money off of people that will deal with that because they're just short-term,' said Stefan Juzkiw, the owner and founder of Juzkiw Law in Toronto. 'When the owner, or AirBNB host, tells you there's an issue, you want to be very cautious and try to investigate fully. Ideally, you want places that are reasonably safe.' CTV News also reached out to AirBNB. A spokesperson from the company said the listing for the Kitchener rental has been suspended until the host confirms the ceiling problem has been addressed. AirBNB also said Nguyen would be issued a full refund.

Kitchener library serving life skills in new teaching kitchen
Kitchener library serving life skills in new teaching kitchen

CTV News

time6 days ago

  • General
  • CTV News

Kitchener library serving life skills in new teaching kitchen

Participants in the Little Chefs program at the Southwest branch of the Kitchener Public Library on July 22, 2025. (Karis Mapp/CTV News) The Kitchener Public Library is giving aspiring chefs an opportunity to go beyond book learning. The Southwest branch at 100 Rosenberg Way, which opened in March, boasts a long list of innovations, including a net-zero architectural design. A new teaching kitchen also opened in May where visitors to the library can develop real world skills. The space can be rented for cooking and food literacy programs. One of those, called Little Chefs, gives children between the ages of two and five a chance to build their confidence in a culinary setting. 'Some people may look at the program and think, 'Oh, they're just chopping things. They're just mixing things.' But we try to include some social/emotional learning into it,' explained Chanelle Seguin, a children's programmer for the Kitchener Public Library. Most people are told not to 'eat your feelings,' but that's exactly what participants were doing in Tuesday's class. 'Today we're doing toasties with emojis,' Seguin said. 'We're going to talk about different emotions and how to remain cool when we're feeling a little hotheaded.' The kids drew the emotions they were feeling on slices of toast, using a variety of fruits and vegetables. Seguin hoped the lessons learned in the teaching kitchen will stay with the children as they get older. 'It's so vital to overall wellbeing to not stigmatize anything surrounding food,' Seguin said. 'This is the stuff we need to grow. The stuff we need to remain at our best, both physiologically and psychologically.' Just outside the kitchen doors is a garden which provides some of the vegetables for the culinary programs, giving participants a full garden-to-table experience. 'The fact that a lot of the vegetables and things are fresh from their garden makes some of them a little more appealing for the kids,' attendee Samantha Jordan said. Local chefs and community partners, such as Spectrum, have been tapped to facilitate classes. The library also said it wants to promote recipes from cultures around the world. Seguin believes the teaching kitchen is just one way libraries are evolving to be more than just a book-borrowing service. 'It's one of the last remaining places where no matter what your background is, no matter what you are experiencing in your life, you can come to the library and have equitable opportunities,' she explained. To learn more about the library's free programming and explore other features, including roller skates and a full recording studio, visit the Kitchener Public Library's website.

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