Widowed mother of 6 marking 1 year in Canada from hotel after fire

Fatma Elahmed holds her two-year-old son Muhammed in her hotel room on May 10, 2024. Her family is one of those still displaced by the May 2 fire in an Ottawa highrise. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)

Fatma Elahmed doesn't have any plans for Thursday, which will mark one year since her family came to Canada as Syrian refugees via Turkey.

She just wants to have a home again.

Elahmed, 29, is the single mother of six kids ages two to 13.

Soon after arriving in Ottawa, her 39-year-old husband Alaa Saban died unexpectedly.

Now Elahmed and her kids are living in their second hotel room in as many weeks. Their third-floor apartment remains off-limits after a fatal fire allegedly started by a 42-year-old Ottawa man earlier this month.

"We need to feel home," Elahmed said in Arabic last Friday from the family's first hotel room as her case worker translated.

"I'm fearful [of] the unknown."

Apartment still off-limits

The family buried Saban at the Ottawa Muslim Cemetery on Sept. 15, 2023 — four months after they came to the city as government-assisted refugees.

Saban died of a heart attack, according to Elahmed.

Looking now at the pictures of the entire family exploring Parliament Hill reminds her of how happy they were.

They'd come to the country seeing "home stability" and a "good future for the kids," Elahmed said through Yousra Gilmore, a case worker with the Catholic Centre for Immigrants in Ottawa (CCI).

Elahmed's husband, Alaa Saban, on Parliament Hill with one of his six children with Elahmed. He died in September 2023, only four months after the family came to Canada. (Submitted by Fatma Elahmed)

The May 2 fire at the east end of Donald Street — in one of two highrises known as Capital Towers that are home to several newcomer families — has only further complicated Elahmed's life.

The alarm, which forced the family to flee outside only for some of her children to briefly get separated, sent her into a panic. It reminded her of experience during the major February 2023 earthquake in Turkey, she said.

She left her Donald Street apartment without her phone and identification. The family spent its first nights in an emergency shelter before settling into its first hotel — though the lack of ID, and Elahmed only having cash, initially made their admittance challenging.

Money from Elahmed's tenant insurance plan and from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is helping cover costs, but a lot of it is going to her hotel bills and she can't afford two rooms despite the family's size, Gilmore said.

From left to right: Elahmed's kids Varid, Huseyin, Seymaa and Ele Saban pose for a photo inside their hotel room last week. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)

While she was able to visit her smoke- and water-damaged unit to recover her ID and other essentials, it's unclear when the family will be able to return home.

According to a statement from Conundrum Capital — an associate of the company that manages the property for owner Enterprise Residential REIT — a number of people have been able to get back inside after police opened it up and made an arrest.

Tenants on the third floor must still wait because of the significant damage there, according to the company's statement on Saturday. Elahmed described the state of her apartment as "hopeless."

"Our top priority is to help people return to their apartments quickly and safely, which is why we have hired three [expert] companies to assist us with the restoration work," the company stated.

Police have charged a man with several arson-related charges for the highrise fire. (Patrick Louiseize/Radio-Canada)

A hero to case worker

Elahmed's family has received a lot of help, including clothing and local gift cards from a nearby school and the offer of a car from another local Syrian family.

But as the lone parent to six kids, Elahmed is worried about her future beyond her return home.

She is eager to learn English but the wait-list is long, she said.

As she transitions from IRCC to Ontario Works, she's afraid the financial support she receives will not stretch as far.

Despite those challenges, Elahmed is a hero to her case worker Gilmore.

"I hope the future inspires her kids to do better and use this challenging time as motivation to keep going," Gilmore said.

A toy on one of the beds in the family's single hotel room last week. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)