Second-Hand Somke City of Hamilton
Common areas in shared housing
Report smoking and vaping
To help investigate complaints, provide in your report:
- Your name and phone number or email for follow-up
- The date and time of the incident
- Description of what occurred
- The location where you saw people smoking or vaping
-
Hamilton residents are
protected from second-hand smoke in most workplaces
and public places,
yet many are exposed to this dangerous smoke in their own homes.
Questions to ask before renting a home
Often people don’t think about smoke where they live until they have
signed a lease and smoke is coming into their home. You should ask
questions about smoking policies when you are looking for a place to
live.
1. Find out if a smoking policy is written in the lease or community rules. A
new law in Ontario makes it mandatory for Ontario landlords to use a
Standard Lease, which discloses the smoking status in leased units.
- Ask if it applies to everyone or just new tenants.
- Ask if the policy covers indoor common areas, rental units and any
places outside including decks, balconies and patios. Make sure this is
clearly outlined in the Standard Lease.
2. Ask if there are any tenants who currently smoke inside or outside, and where they are smoking.
- If they are smoking in the building, and there is a shared
ventilation system, it is likely that second-hand smoke will get into
your unit.
- If they smoke outside near your windows or doors, smoke could get inside your unit.
3. Ask about enforcement.
- Does the landlord check to make sure nobody is smoking?
- How would the landlord respond if you made a complaint about a smoking neighbour?
- If a tenant or their guest is smoking, what would the landlord do about it?
4. Are signs posted to make visitors aware of the no-smoking policy?
5. Did the previous tenant smoke? If so, what did the landlord do to clean the apartment?
- The residual odours and contamination from second-hand smoke can be hard to get rid of if cleaning is not done properly.
Date modified
August 17, 2022
