Restricting Holiday Decorations:

Question: Can a landlord in Ontario ban my seasonal or holiday decorations in my rental unit if I’m not damaging anything?

Answer: ?

Answer: In Ontario, your landlord generally must allow you to enjoy the rental unit (including holiday lights and seasonal decorations) unless the landlord can point to a limited reason tied to safety hazards, undue damage, or substantial interference with reasonable enjoyment; the key balance is that a landlord cannot substantially interfere with your reasonable enjoyment under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, s. 22, while a landlord can rely on the tenant’s responsibility for repair of undue damage under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, s. 34, and termination for cause involving willful or negligent undue damage under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, s. 62(1), as well as termination where tenant conduct substantially interferes with reasonable enjoyment or another lawful landlord interest under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, s. 64(1); if a restriction is being imposed, Melville Legal can help you assess whether the request is reasonable and legally grounded based on your situation, and to discuss next steps with a practical, tenant-focused approach, call (289) 981-7712.

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.

The Law

The relevant law, being the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, Chapter 17, lacks explicit mandates relating to seasonal decorations or religious holiday displays, including Christmas lights, among other things, however, the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, does contain mandates applicable to safety hazards and damage concerns as well as mandates applicable to rights of reasonable enjoyment.

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.