TCH to become smoke free
Cigarette, cannabis use to be phased out on all public-housing property Renters can face restrictions on smoking cigarettes and cannabis based on their individual lease agreements.
Toronto Community Housing intends to go smoke free in a move that will limit or prevent new tenants from smoking cigarettes — and marijuana — on its property, a spokesperson confirmed.
Come Oct. 17, all Toronto residents will be allowed to legally smoke cannabis in their private homes, including apartment or condominium units, balconies and outside property, according to a summary of the rules on the Ontario government website.
However, that new freedom to indulge in a legal substance is dependent “on your building’s rules or your lease agreement,” and that detail is causing confusion among tenants and landlords around what will be permitted, or whether breaking something like a no-smoking clause could result in eviction. Toronto Community Housing spokesperson Bruce Malloch said the corporation intends to phase out all smoking on all public housing property, which includes more than 60,000 units that are home to 110,000 people, but they do not have a timeline in place.
“In future, new units will be smoke free. We will consult with tenants to develop a comprehensive policy that will en- compass and address both tobacco and cannabis smoking,” Malloch said in an email Friday. “Tenants with existing leases would have the option of signing a new lease that included a smoke-free clause, but it would be strictly on a voluntary basis.”
A non-smoking clause could impact private renters as well and is one tool landlords could use to prevent people from smoking in their units — although breaking that rule doesn’t mean a person is going to lose their home.
“Smoking in violation of a nosmoking clause is not, in itself, a ground for eviction,” Conrad Spezowka, spokesperson with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said in an email.
Spezowka said while the Residential Tenancies Act does not specifically address marijuana, Ontario’s new standard lease has a space where a landlord can include a non-smoking provision for new renters. When it comes to conflict over growing or smoking marijuana inside units, each case will be “judged on its own merits by the Landlord and Tenant Board.”
Landlords “can serve a termination notice on a tenant whose behaviour causes damage, interferes with others’ reasonable enjoyment of their homes,” and interferes with people’s comfort and safety, Spezowka said.
Tenants can also appeal to the board if they feel their neighbours are interfering with their enjoyment of their homes.
Kenn Hale, the director of legal services for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, said breaking a no-smoking clause could result in a hearing, but is not immediate grounds for eviction.
“We think tenants should have the same rights as homeowners. There shouldn’t be additional restrictions on tenants because tenants pay rent and they should be able to enjoy their homes,” Hale said.
“The fundamental rule we want to get across to people is be a good neighbour” and to reinforce to tenants if they do smoke cannabis that they do so in a way that doesn’t cause issues in the building, Hale said.
Hale also said landlords cannot retroactively add a nosmoking clause to existing leases. Changes require agreement from both tenant and landlord.
John Dickie, president of the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations (CFAA), said landlords had asked the former Liberal government for a tool that would enable them to set clear rules around smoking marijuana, but came away empty-handed.
“Ontario chose to do nothing to help landlords” manage the issue, Dickie said.