Restricting Holiday Decorations:

Question: Can a landlord in Ontario legally stop me from installing seasonal holiday decorations like Christmas lights in my rental unit if they say it could be unsafe or cause damage?

Answer:
 

In Ontario, a landlord generally must allow you to install reasonable holiday decorations, but DK Legal Practice (a paralegal service in Ontario) can help if the landlord is refusing without a genuine safety or damage basis. The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, allows a tenant to be held responsible for undue damage and lets a landlord seek termination where there is wilful or negligent damage or conduct that substantially interferes with the landlord’s or another tenant’s rights, including conduct that creates safety hazards and liability risk, while also requiring the landlord not to substantially interfere with your reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit under section 22. If your decorations are installed safely, do not cause damage, and do not create unreasonable interference, the landlord typically cannot rely on vague concerns to stop you, and you may have options to respond through documentation and a clear plan for mitigation. For practical next steps and landlord-tenant strategy, call (416) 906-6663 and discuss what decorations you want to install and what specific safety or damage concerns the landlord is claiming.

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 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.