Arguments in favour of no-smoking policies for social/non-profit housing

• Although the smoking rate may arguably be higher among social and non-profit housing tenants, it is unlikely that the majority of these tenants smoke. In other words, the majority of people living in social and non-profit housing are likely non-smokers who appreciate the benefits of a smoke-free environment. We need more data on this. However,
  
  • The Region of Waterloo surveyed its social housing tenants on this issue in the spring of 2009, and the results showed that 21% of respondents smoked--which is only 2% higher than the national average. More...
• For many tenants, social housing providers are the landlord of last resort. These are tenants with extremely limited housing choices. Some people wait years to secure a subsidized unit, only to find themselves and their families involuntarily exposed to second-hand smoke day in and day out. They do not have the means to move.
• Many social housing tenants are already marginalized with higher rates of disability and chronic disease. Social/non-profit housing should be a clean and safe environment for people who don't have any other housing options.
• The concept of smoke-free social and non-profit housing is in line with social norms in this province. Most of the rest of Ontario is 100% smoke-free, including nursing homes, mental hospitals and even prisons.

Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA)

 In June 2009 ONPHA published an "Info On" document entitled "Smoke-Free Multi-Residential Apartment Buildings." This analysis document will be of use to those non-profits considering a no-smoking policy.

To access the document, you must be an ONPHA member. Log onto the members' section of the ONPHA website and search for it by name.

A note on seniors' housing

If you are interested in a no-smoking policy but are not quite ready at present, consider a "safe smoking" policy as a stepping stone towards eventually becoming smoke-free. Consider this:

• Cigarettes and oxygen tanks are a deadly combination;
• Improper disposal of cigarette butts (i.e throwing cigarettes in the garbage, down laundry or garbage chutes, etc.) can become a problem for housing providers of tenants with failing cognitive ability; and
• Falling asleep with a lit cigarette is a serious fire hazard.

Adopt a 'safe smoking' policy that:

• Prohibits tenants who use oxygen from smoking while their tanks are on;
• Prohibits tenants who demonstrate unsafe smoking habits from smoking in their private units. As a landlord you would likely consult with the tenant, tenant's family as well as with any relevant home care, health care or social workers to make this determination; and
• Prohibits smoking in bed.

Policy adoption

• If there are people on a waiting list for your housing, they will need to know about your no-smoking policy so they can decide if they would like to remain on the waiting list. Refer to the tools section for a sample notification letter.
• You may find that you need to educate your service manager about the legality and logistics of no-smoking policies vis-a-vis waiting lists in Ontario. Refer to the legal opinion for instructions on how your waiting list should be handled. And tell your sevice manager about this site!

Enforcement

Many social and non-profit housing providers have told us that they are landlords of last resort and as such, don't want to evict their tenants for breaching a no-smoking policy. 

We recognize that eviction should only be a last resort measure after all other avenues have been failed. It is entirely up to you to decide how to handle enforcement. An easy solution is to reserve a certain percentage of smoking permitted units in your portfolio so that you can offer tenants who cannot or will not abide by your policy the choice to live there.

However, be aware that second-hand smoke can infiltrate no-smoking units. Ideally, if you have a number of buildings in a complex you can designate one of them as smoking permitted. If not, be sure to keep units where smoking is permitted contiguous, such as on a wing or on one or more consecutive floors. If you have a multi-storey building, consider allowing smoking on the top floor(s), as indoor air quality tends to be better closer to the ground.

Your enforcement plan will likely depend on your tenant(s) and their behaviour, whether or not there is damage to the unit, and whether or not you live in the building too. You always have the choice to take a soft or hard approach with smoking violations. A soft approach involves speaking directly with the tenant and the tenant's family or other relevant caregivers to discuss the policy. Next, you might consider writing a warning letter (perhaps even two) before serving the tenant a Notice to Terminate a Tenancy Early form. A hard approach skips the warnings and lets the 'Notice to Terminate a Tenancy Early' form serve as an eviction warning.

In Ontario, smoking in violation of a no-smoking policy is not considered a material breach of the lease. You would therefore likely enforce your policy for one of the following reasons:

1. Damage—The tenant, the tenant’s guest or another occupant of the rental unit willfully or negligently damaged the rental unit or the residential complex as per section 62(1) of the Act (Form N5).
    
2. Damage—The tenant, the tenant’s guest or another occupant of the rental unit willfully damaged the rental unit or the residential complex as per section 63(1a) of the Act (Form N7).
    
3. Reasonable enjoyment—The tenant, the tenant’s guest or another occupant of the rental unit substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the residential complex by the landlord or another tenant, or substantially interfered with another lawful right, privilege or interest of the landlord or another tenant as per section 64(1) of the Act (Form N5).
    
4. Reasonable enjoyment of landlord in a small building (landlord must reside in a building containing not more than three residential units)--The tenant, the tenant’s guest or another occupant of the rental unit substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the building by the landlord, or substantially interfered with another lawful right, privilege or interest of the landlord as per section 65(1) of the Act (Form N7).

In past cases at the Landlord and Tenant Board, adjudicators have accepted evidence in the form of log books detailing the dates and times that second-hand smoke infiltrated another apartment, in addition to testimony from third parties confirming the smell of second-hand smoke and its impact on health and well-being.

Visit our enforcement section for more information.

Support for tenants who smoke

Most smokers would like to quit smoking. Very few adults “choose” to smoke. The vast majority of smokers start smoking as children or adolescents, before they know the risks of tobacco use and the addictive qualities of nicotine. A survey of adult smokers from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia found near universal regret about having started smoking. Far from being a choice, for most smokers tobacco use results in “true drug dependence,” comparable to the dependence caused by heroin and cocaine. The medical community is in agreement that clinical intervention is needed to treat chronic tobacco use, just as with many other types of drug addiction.

Check out our cessation section, and contact your local public health unit to find out if they might be interested in partnering with you to address smoking among tenants in social housing.