Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. It is perfectly legal for landlords to make their buildings smoke-free. Landlords have the right to designate all or part of a building as smoke-free, including individual units, balconies and the entire property. Landlords can include smoking clauses in new and renewing tenancy agreements, or add an addendum to current tenancy agreements if agreed upon by the tenant. Even in cases where tenants don’t sign an addendum to their tenancy agreements, there may be potential to implement and enforce a policy.

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Landlords have the ability to set policies to protect the health and safety of their residents, and protect their property, as long as the policy does not conflict with federal or provincial laws. Adopting a smoke-free policy is similar to adopting other policies, such as a no-pets or no-barbecues policy.

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Yes. The Alberta Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Act prohibits smoking in any structure or other enclosed common area of a multi-unit residential facility to which members of the public have access. This includes common patios, pools, other recreation areas, and enclosed parking garages.

The Act also prohibits smoking within five metres of a doorway, air intake or window that can be opened. Some municipalities may have established larger smoke-free buffer zones around windows and doorways, and may also include buffer zones around public parks and trails.

It is the responsibility of the landlord/property managers to enforce laws affecting their property. When implementing a smoke-free policy, be sure that any designated smoking areas do not infringe upon spaces designated as smoke-free under provincial or municipal law.

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Smoke-free clauses can be added to a tenancy agreement at the point of renewal, or prior to renewal if the tenant agrees to sign an addendum. If the tenant does not agree to sign an addendum, and their tenancy is not up for renewal in the near future, a landlord could simply notify the tenant of the policy and hold them accountable to abide by it.

In the latter situation, good communication and documentation will be essential. A landlord would likely need to demonstrate that smoking infractions are ongoing and causing a hazard to others in the building in order to successfully enforce the policy before the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or the courts.

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Yes, but not typically after only one offence. In Alberta, a landlord can only evict a tenant in the case of a substantial breach of the tenant’s obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act. A substantial breach, however, can also be a series of breaches of your residential tenancy agreement or lease that, when taken together, are substantial. Therefore, if your smoke-free policy is written into your tenancy agreement, and a tenant repeatedly ignores it or breaches that policy, there are grounds for eviction.

If your smoke-free policy is not written into your tenancy agreement, there would still be grounds for eviction if a tenant’s smoking constitutes a substantial breach to one of the following tenant obligations:

• not to interfere significantly with the rights of the landlord or other tenants
• not to do anything at the rented property that would put anyone in danger
• not to do significant damage at the property or allow anyone else to do such damage
• to keep the property in a reasonable, clean condition

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No; however, the right to enact a smoke-free policy without exempting existing tenants has never been tested in Alberta courts.

Some provinces in Canada set out an explicit process for a landlord to introduce new rules, requiring existing tenants to be given a minimum amount of notice of or exemption from any rules not originally signed into their tenancy agreement.

A smoke-free policy in those provinces would therefore have to be phased in. Alberta law does not set out any such process, meaning Alberta landlords can only change terms of a lease when it is renewed or by signing an amendment with the tenant.

However, the law also requires Alberta landlords to fulfill certain covenants and allows them to impose rules where reasonably necessary to fulfill these covenants. These covenants include ensuring that the premises meet at least the minimum standards prescribed for housing premises under the Public Health Act and regulations. Those minimum standards include preventing “any condition in housing premises that is or may become injurious or dangerous to the public health, including any condition that may hinder in any way the suppression of disease.”

Thus, while the law does not specifically require the exemption of tenants who smoke, it allows for landlords to prohibit smoking in individual units if a case can be made that second-hand smoke has the potential to cause injury to the landlord or other tenants. There are several examples in Canadian case law where second-hand smoke has been deemed to cause injury.

Again, this argument has yet to be tested in Alberta courts.

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This issue has been considered numerous times throughout the years, and Canadian courts have consistently ruled – with one exception – that addiction to nicotine is not a disability. The one exception was a British Columbia labour-arbitration decision in an employment context. Cominco had banned smoking on the plant site, and while the labour-arbitration board found that heavily addicted smokers were disabled, it also recognized that the employer’s smoke-free policy was reasonable and adopted to protect staff from a known hazard. The matter was referred back to the parties to resolve how to accommodate the heavily addicted smokers. Cominco’s smoking ban remains in effect today.

In a residential situation, even if people who smoke were found to be a protected group on the basis of their addiction, they would be under a duty to co-operate with alternative solutions for their addiction that do not expose neighbours and bystanders to second-hand smoke. This could include smoking outside or obtaining nicotine through alternative means that do not emit second-hand smoke, such as nicotine gum, nicotine lozenges or nicotine inhalers.

There is no legal precedent to repeal a smoke-free policy to accommodate a resident with a nicotine addiction.

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Yes, the way the law reads it seems clear that accommodation is required, however, the issue has never been tried in an Alberta court.

Indigenous people have been using traditional or sacred tobacco for thousands of years. Traditional or sacred tobacco differs from commercial tobacco in that it is used in a variety of ways including ceremonial or sacred rituals for healing and purifying and in social customs where it is given or

exchanged as a sign of respect. Traditional or sacred tobacco is grown and dried without additives. For more information on traditional tobacco please visit tobaccowise.com.

The ceremonial use of tobacco is not exempt from smoke-free policies in multi-unit housing unless explicitly stated. However, under human rights legislation all Albertans are under a duty to accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of others. The duty to accommodate goes both ways, as such any resident(s) using tobacco for ceremonial purposes should ensure they are not causing other residents undo harm. Tips for supporting the ceremonial use of tobacco include:

1. Engaging the resident(s) to understand their ceremonial use of tobacco.
2. Learning the duration and frequency of intended ceremonial tobacco use.
3. Finding ways to accommodate ceremonial tobacco use that does not expose other residents to secondhand smoke exposure. For example, if possible recommend outdoor use and remove any barriers that might inhibit the ceremony from taking place outdoors.
4. If the ceremonial use of tobacco is to be used indoors, establish a communication system to inform other residents about the ceremonial use of tobacco in order to avoid complaints and bridge any religious or cultural misunderstandings.

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Landlords are obligated under the Residential Tenancies Act to ensure the premises meet at least the minimum standards prescribed for housing premises under the Public Health Act and regulations. This includes a regulation that “no person shall cause or permit any condition in housing premises that is or may become injurious or dangerous to the public health, including any condition that may hinder in any way the suppression of disease.”

Second-hand tobacco smoke is a major, preventable contributor to acute and chronic adverse health outcomes. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. Second-hand smoke has more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals and has been identified as a toxic air contaminant that is classified as a known carcinogen. In several Canadian court cases, second-hand smoke has been found to cause injury. Thus, landlords have a significant obligation to protect tenants from second-hand smoke exposure.

Legal information provided on this site is based on a professional legal opinion available here.

This website is full of information about smoke-free policies, including the benefits of a smoke-free environment and how to go about creating a policy for your building. There are also many tools and resources to help you throughout the process. 

For more detailed information, download our comprehensive guidebook on smoke-free policies for rental properties or contact us to order a print copy.