A popular Halloween house in Orléans that has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) for decades is at risk of shutting down after a neighbour complained to Ottawa Bylaw.
“It’s a shame but, I mean, it is what it is. We’ll try and do our best to see if we can open again this year,” said Brian Albert outside the home on Pintail Terrace.
“We’ve been trying to see what we can do, to see what we can continue without having to take everything apart. So, we’ve had through social media, it’s been unbelievable the support,” he said.
“I know eventually we’ll have to stop because we’re getting on with age and it’s taking a lot. But I would like it on my own terms, not because somebody decided,” added Brian’s wife, Ghislaine.
Brian said a complaint was made to bylaw last year and most recently again in May.
The head of bylaw says an investigation determined that “several accessory structures associated with the display do not comply with the applicable provisions of the City of Ottawa Zoning Bylaw, which governs the location and placement of structures on residential properties.”
The property features a structure made to look like a castle at the front of the house, a long building made of wood in the back that serves as the haunted house and other structures.
It takes the family two months to get the property ready and is open from Wednesday to Sunday nights between Oct. 1 and 31, with at least 1,000 visitors on Halloween night in 2025 alone.
Volunteers, including some who gain their high school community service hours, help make it happen.
“We didn’t buy all those decorations. People who don’t want to do Halloween anymore, they leave it on our stoop. (We) open the doors and ‘Oh, we got new decorations,’ so we try and use some of them and put some away so that it’s slightly different every year,” Ghislaine said.
Thousands raised for charity
The family chose CHEO as their charity of choice when people started wanting to pay for the experience. The Albert family estimates they’ve donated about $100,000 over the last 26 years.
“Some people, they come all the way through October, and they give every time they come,” said Ghislaine. “Many people come through saying, ‘Thank you, my son goes to CHEO on a regular basis,’ and I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting old, but it makes me choke up.”
It’s money CHEO counts on.
“We’re servicing the largest patient population that we ever had before so when you take away a community event, it really does take away the impact that we can have on the programs and services that we offer at CHEO,” said Emily Jamieson, vice-president of Innovation, Corporate & Strategic Partnerships at the CHEO Foundation.
“And while it might seem like a small community event, they all add up, so we really do need support from the community. And, you know, this specific event too really did have a large impact.”
Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff has been inundated with community members offering their support for the Alberts and asking for something to be done.
“I’m going to keep working with the mayor’s office, keep working with bylaw, looking forward to kind of sitting down with the Alberts either later this week or early next week, just to kind of figure out a way forward, because we don’t want to lose this incredible community asset,” Luloff said.
Supporters have now launched an online petition in support of the Albert family and the Halloween house.
“(Bylaw and Regulatory Services) recognizes the significant community support and charitable contributions associated with this event and is working closely with the property owner to achieve compliance with the Zoning Bylaw, including potential solutions that address safety requirements and the applicable regulations for accessory structures,” said Bylaw Chief Jake Gravelle.
“I don’t think it’s an eyesore at all,” added area resident Leonard Lemoine. “Every year, Mr. Halloween, as we call him, does it all. I mean, it’s the biggest attraction around and all the proceeds go to CHEO.
“So, I think it’s great.”
