Restricting Holiday Decorations:

Question: What can a tenant or landlord in Ontario do if a dispute arises over installing seasonal or religious holiday decorations, like Christmas lights, and the other side claims it’s unsafe or will cause damage?

Answer:   In Ontario, the paralegal team at Forseti Legal Services can help you understand when a landlord may limit seasonal or religious holiday decorations due to safety hazards or undue damage, while still respecting tenants’ reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit; in general, a landlord must not unreasonably interfere, but can impose reasonable restrictions if the lights or displays create a meaningful safety risk or lead to undue damage under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, including under Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, ss. 22, 34, 62 and 64, and a tenant should avoid actions that substantially interfere with the landlord’s or other tenants’ lawful rights. If you’re dealing with a notice, repairs or damage allegations, or a rights dispute at your rental property anywhere in Ontario, call (705) 806-7577 to book a free 1/4 hour consultation with Forseti Legal Services at a time that works for you.

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

Generally, a landlord must permit the installation of religious holiday decorations and displays by a tenant; however, where the decorations or display genuinely poses a safety risk or causes damage to the rental premises, a landlord may forbid the installation or require reasonable measures to reduce the safety risk and avoid property 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.

Within the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, section 34 states that a tenant may be held liable for damage caused to the rental premises and section 62 states that a tenant may be evicted for causing undue damage to the rental premises.  Additionally, section 64 states that a tenancy may be terminated where a tenant substantially interferes with a right, a privilege, or an interest, of the landlord, such as engaging in conduct that creates significant risks to the landlord.  Specifically, these sections 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 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.