Restricting Holiday Decorations:

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

Answer:In Ontario, a landlord generally must not unreasonably interfere with your reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit, including seasonal decorations, unless the lights or displays create safety hazards, substantial liability risk, or undue damage to the rental premises; the balance comes from tenant and landlord rights under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, section 22, and potential consequences for undue damage or conduct that substantially interferes with reasonable enjoyment under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, sections 34, 62(1), and 64(1)   If you need help responding to a restriction request or preparing for a dispute at the Landlord and Tenant Board, paralegals at Cross Legal Services can review your situation and help you take practical, rights-based steps; call (289) 443-0675 for guidance.

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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 Cross Legal Services by phone at: (289) 443-0675 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.

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:

With all the above said regarding tenant behaviour relating to holiday decorations, it must also be noted that, per section 22 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, a landlord is forbidden from unreasonably interfering with the rights to reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit by the tenant.  Specifically, section 22 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 provide tenants with the freedom to enjoy the rental unit which includes the freedom to install decorations such as holiday lighting displays, among other things; however, tenants must install decorations in such a manner that avoids creation of safety hazards as well as avoids causing damage to the rented premises.