Restricting Holiday Decorations:

Question:Can my Ontario landlord stop me from installing seasonal or religious holiday decorations like Christmas lights?

Answer:In Ontario, a landlord generally can’t unreasonably block a tenant from enjoying their rental unit by installing seasonal or religious decorations, but the landlord may restrict them if the decorations create real safety hazards or create undue damage risk to the rental premises. The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 ties the balance to undue damage and interference: tenants must repair undue damage caused by wilful or negligent conduct under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 at section 34, and a landlord may terminate for willful or negligent undue damage under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 at section 62(1).   The landlord also can act where conduct substantially interferes with reasonable enjoyment or lawful rights under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 at section 64(1), while still being barred from substantially interfering with reasonable enjoyment under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 at section 22.   If you’re in a dispute in Ontario, a paralegal at Vagans Legal can help you assess whether the restriction is reasonable and how to respond effectively with evidence, so you can protect both safety and your rights, call (416) 473-8472.

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Understanding the Limited Reasons to Restrict Installation of Seasonal Decorations Including Safety or Damage Concerns

In Ontario, landlords are generally required to permit installation of religious decorations and holiday displays by a tenant; however, if the decorations or displays create safety hazards with liability risks or cause damage to the rental premises, then the landlord may forbid the decorations or displays or may impose reasonable measures that eliminate the safety hazards and prevent the damage.

Note: Please contact Vagans Legal by phone at: (416) 473-8472 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.

The Law

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, Chapter 17, is without explicit directives regarding seasonal holiday decorations such as Christmas lights, among other things; however, the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, contains various sections that are relevant to the safety concerns and the damage concerns of a landlord while also containing sections relevant to the rights of a tenant to enjoy the rental premises without unreasonable interference by the landlord.

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, at section 34, states that tenants may be liable for undue damage that is caused to the rental premise. Furthermore, section 62 states that tenants may be evicted for willfully or negligently damaging the rented premises.  Additionally, section 64 states that a tenant may be evicted for substantially interfering with a right, a privilege, or an interest, of the landlord, including conduct that creates safety hazards that pose significant liability risk to the landlord.  These sections explicitly state:

Despite the above concerns regarding decorations installed by a tenant, it is also important to bear in mind that section 22 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 forbids a landlord from unreasonably interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit by the tenant.  In this respect, section 22 specifically states:

As detailed per the law shown above, although tenants may be forbidden from creating safety hazards that may cause injuries and correspondingly impose liability risk upon a landlord as well as forbidden from causing undue damage to the rental premises as property of the landlord, the landlord is also forbidden from interfering in the reasonable enjoyment rights of tenants.  As such, the law requires that the rights that protect the landlord from unreasonable risks must be balanced with the rights that reasonably permit tenants to install decorations.

Summary Comment

A landlord must permit a tenant to enjoy the rental unit, including allowing installation of holiday decorations such as lighting displays, among other things, so long as the tenant avoids creating safety hazards and refrains from damaging the rental premises.