Is it legal for a landlord to adopt a no-smoking policy for private rental units and balconies?
Yes. It is absolutely legal for landlords to adopt no-smoking policies. Neither the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 nor the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000, or any other Ontario legislation prohibits a landlord from instituting a no-smoking policy that prohibits tenants or guests of tenants or anyone else from smoking inside a leased residential unit. Landlords have the right to impose additional obligations or restrictions on tenants beyond the standard lease agreement, as long as these requirements do not conflict with the Residential Tenancies Act, the Human Rights Code or any other federal law. Landlords have the right to protect their investment and designate all or part of a building as no-smoking, including individual units, balconies or the entire property. However, by law, such a policy would only apply to new tenants signing new leases. Section 38 (1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 provides: If a tenancy agreement for a fixed term ends and has not been renewed or term
