Condo boards should set out rules before cannabis legalization: lawyers

VANCOUVER — Homeowner groups need to quickly establish rules for marijuana growing and consumption in an effort to nip any problems in the bud, say lawyers who specialize in property law.

Robert Noce, a partner with Miller Thomson LLP in Edmonton, said the most common troubles will likely be the smell of smoke and potential mould from growing cannabis.

“I suggest that you have an absolute prohibition of smoking and/or vaping in the units and on property, together with an absolute prohibition on the growing of marijuana in the units,” Noce said.

Most condo boards, he said, have been amending their bylaws ahead of Oct. 17, when recreational marijuana becomes legal in Canada.

Different provinces have different rules for smoking, and growing cannabis plants at home for personal use.

In British Columbia, almost all condos already prohibit smoking of cigarettes, said Tony Gioventu, executive director of Condominium Home Owners’ Association of British Columbia.

“So, smoking or cultivation with marijuana is an easy modification for most buildings.”

He said the same rules that are applied to cigarettes can be applied to marijuana, adding that a “vast majority” of condos will adopt bylaws that prohibit growing and smoking cannabis in their private homes.

“B.C. is quite far ahead with lifestyle bylaws,” he said.

Local laws in Alberta are to be followed for cannabis consumption.

In Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Northwest Territories, smoking will be allowed on private property and in private residences, but landlords can restrict cultivation and smoking.