As legalization rapidly approaches in Canada, landlords, and tenants are grappling with whether an apartment building can be declared marijuana-smoke-free, whether a disobedient smoker could be evicted, and whether a blanket provincial ban on cannabis smoke at home might be the only way to stop it.

Fortunately, in BC, earlier this year, Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General released a range of new cannabis rules ahead of the July 2018 legalization by the Federal Government.

Minister Farnworth aims to mitigate the risks associated with the consumption and cultivation of cannabis in rental housing. The scope of the prohibitions is as follows:

• Consumption: Local governments will be able to set additional restrictions, as they do now for tobacco use. In addition, landlords and strata councils will be able to restrict or prohibit non-medical cannabis smoking and vaping at tenanted and strata properties.
• Cultivation: BC will align with the proposed federal legislation and allow adults to grow up to four cannabis plants per household, but the plants must not be visible from public spaces off the property. Home cultivation of non-medical cannabis will be banned in dwellings used as daycares. In addition, landlords and strata councils will be able to restrict or prohibit home cultivation.

What does this mean for landlords?

These new rules mean that landlords will be able to prohibit the smoking, vaping, and growing of recreational cannabis in their rental buildings.