At Cadillac Fairview (CF), employees know and take pride in our properties being gathering places for their communities. It’s much less expected that they could become a port in a storm. That’s what happened in April 2023 when an ice storm caused the worst power outage in Québec in 25 years and residents near CF Fairview Pointe Claire in Montréal found comfort in the halls of the shopping centre.

For Christine Cardinal and the entire property team, it was a no-brainer to go above and beyond for their community, extending opening hours so families and individuals without power could warm up, refuel with a hot meal, and recharge their devices to stay informed and keep in touch with family.

“The situation that everyone found themselves in was apart from the regular, to say the least, and as members of the community ourselves, my team felt the impact personally,” said Christine, Administrative Operations Coordinator, CF Fairview Pointe Claire. “At CF, we’re all about embracing change and pivoting, and that has never been more true than during the ice storm. It was about working together and doing the best we could to get the job done. It was an interesting challenge.”

When she started the day Christine didn’t imagine she would later be “skating” in her shoes across an icy parking lot with an armful of extension cords, but as the ice storm developed across the city, the CF Fairview Pointe Claire team knew they needed to engage their visitors with empathy. The team quickly mobilized, setting up additional chairs and tables around the centre to accommodate more people, marking which electrical outlets were available for guests to use, all the while ensuring their own loved ones were safe in the storm.

“We just had to roll with it – how do we make it better for everyone? How do we make everyone more comfortable?” she said. The response was one of immense gratitude. “People stopped us in our tracks to say ‘thank you,’ people wrote in to thank us, and posted on community forums to thank the team. It was awesome to be a part of helping the community.”

Christine's journey at CF began in 2016 as the Guest Service Supervisor for the property, where she first experienced the importance of community engagement. Transitioning to the role of Revenue Coordinator in 2019, she gained a deeper understanding of the operational aspects of the property. In 2021, Christine became Administrative Coordinator for Operations, where her dedication to service and adaptability shone brightly during the ice storm crisis.

CF was able to help hundreds of visitors that day, and luckily the shopping centre didn’t lose all its power with two different electrical grids feeding the buildings. All in all, more than a million people lost power during the Québec and Ontario ice storm of 2023. After a few days of emergency support at CF Fairview Pointe Claire, people across the city started to get power back as various grids came back online. Soon enough, the packed corridors, dining hall and shopping centre hours returned to normal, and the tables and chairs were stowed away.

While there’s no sign of the storm left at CF Fairview Pointe Claire today, it’s a week that the property team won’t soon forget for the way the community came together and how swiftly the team demonstrated CF’s Values in a time of crisis.  

“These are some of the most challenging days you can face at work,” she said. “But they can also be some of the most rewarding.”

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