Homeowners and employees have been left reeling after an Orléans construction company suddenly closed its doors, walking away from half-built houses and projects worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now, those who relied on the company, Highbridge Construction, are left wondering if they’ll ever see that money again.

It’s hard to imagine things getting worse for Bonny Bunda, but they just did in a very big way. (Disclosure: Bunda is related to a Bell Media Ottawa employee.)

“I knew immediately that we were in trouble,” Bunda said.

Bunda is still recovering from a devastating fire that gutted her home and claimed the lives of several pets. She hired Highbridge Construction to rebuild her home, but it has ceased operations and isn’t returning her calls.

“We lost everything and then we lost a little bit more. I don’t know what steps we can take going forward,” she said.

After months of frustration, Bunda’s rebuild remains a hole and she’s now out hundreds of thousands of dollars. She says Highbridge told her the money was insured, but she found out Monday it is not.

“When we contacted Tarion this morning, they said that Highbridge had actually never registered our rebuild contract and, unfortunately, we personally—I personally—have lost $227,000.”

Employees have also been left in the lurch. Wages are outstanding and there has been very little information from the company, just a locked door in Orléans.

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