City to put restrictions on wood burning appliances

WATCH ABOVE: A committee studying the effects of wood fires on air quality is recommending a ban come into effect as early as October 2016.

MONTREAL – The city has a lot of smog alerts, and it seems wood burning stoves are partially to blame.

Montreal had planned to restrict fireplace usage within the next five years, but a committee studying the issue is recommending the ban come into effect as early as next year.

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According to Environment Canada, almost half of the particles in the air are caused by wood burning fireplaces and about 85,000 homes on the island have them.

“We are putting the lives of Montrealers in danger because we have every year, year in and year out, close to a thousand deaths due to air pollution,” said Guillaume Lavoie, a Montreal city councillor.

“The committee who summoned this unanimously with people from all different parties recommended that we move very fast, as fast as October 2016.”

When used in cold weather, wood burning appliances release invisible fine particles, seriously affecting the quality of the air.