Smoking (LTB)

SWT-01030-17 (Re), 2017 CanLII 49010 (ON LTB)

9. The Landlord also submitted a text exchange between the Tenant and the superintendent on May 8, 2017 as Exhibit 23. In the exchange, the Tenant reports on people smoking outside the building and the superintendent repeats that she can only ask people not to smoke there, but cannot force them to stop.

10. Section 22 of the Act sets out that a landlord may not substantially interfere with a tenant’s reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit or residential complex. The Tenant did not prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the Landlord has substantially interfered with her reasonable enjoyment by failing to adequately respond to the Tenant’s complaints about second-hand smoke coming from outside the building.

11. The Landlord has demonstrated that she is taking reasonable steps to follow up on the Tenant’s complaints by sending reminder letters to residents, posting no-smoking signs and by having her superintendent speak to people when the Tenant complains. The evidence does not establish that the Landlord is entitled to forbid residents from smoking outside of the residential complex. While the Tenant provided a copy of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, it does not speak to smoking outside apartment buildings. The Tenant did not provide any relevant municipal by-laws that provide more enforcement options. On the other hand, the Landlord provided hearsay evidence that a municipal employee has advised her staff that the Landlord cannot enforce a no-smoking rule outside the apartment building.