A local lawyer says landlords and tenants should make sure they're on the same page when it comes to growing and consuming cannabis -- whether it's for medicinal purposes or for recreational use.
Isabelle Cadotte, a lawyer with MHR Law, notes as of Oct. 17, it will be legal to retail or consume recreational cannabis. For years, it's been legal to consume cannabis for medicinal purposes.
"We've seen definitely (concerns) from some residential landlords who've had situations with tenants who've decided 'we're going to start, basically a grow-op,'" Cadotte said during an interview with the Albertan.
She noted people will be able to legally grow four plants per household.
"They have a medical licence from Health Canada and they're allowed to grow up to a certain amount of plants in a home and they decide, 'well, we're just going to grow a ton of plants in our basement that we're renting out from this landlord and we're going to make structural alterations to the building without the landlord's approval.' And then the landlord sees their insurance policy voided by the company."
Cadotte said a case like that in Mountain View County is currently wending its way through the courts. A similar case came up in B.C. as well.
"So that's the starting point. Now the province might decide to reduce that, but really, we're looking at the potential for tenants -- and homeowners even -- to decide, you know, 'I want to grow some cannabis plants in my own home,'" Cadotte said.
"They may not know the impact of that on maybe their mortgage rules, their insurance coverage."
Cadotte said a good way to avoid these problems is to spell out policy in the rental agreement between landlords and tenants.
And then as a landlord or a tenant, there's the whole utilities issue: who's paying for utilities and how much that's going to cost, because it costs a lot more in electricity.
"A lot of landlords and tenants don't operate with a written agreement, but it's a good idea to have a written agreement in place," Cadotte said.
She suggested ensuring that agreement covers whether tenants can smoke marijuana -- or tobacco -- in the home.
It should also specify whether they're allowed to grow marijuana plants in the home and if they're allowed to alter the property -- inside or outdoors -- in any way to accommodate that.
"Having something in writing, it's easier for the landlord to then pinpoint and say, 'well you didn't meet your obligations in the rental agreement, therefore you're evicted,'" Cadotte said.
She noted in the case of medicinal marijuana, tenants can grow a certain amount of marijuana for their own use, but only if they have a licence from Health Canada. Landlords should be aware of that.
"Right now, if someone's trying to grow cannabis and they don't have a Health Canada licence, it's illegal. So you have a pretty firm basis as a landlord for evicting them," she said.
On the other hand, tenants who need medical marijuana to treat their conditions can fall back on human rights legislation.
"But then, when you've got a medical need or a medical condition that requires you to use cannabis or any other substance or drug for medical purposes, then the human rights legislation kicks in, " Cadotte said.
"The landlord has a limit in terms of what they can do. And of course, you can't discriminate against someone, based on a medical condition."
She said the same applies to commercial landlords and tenants.
Cadotte also said it would be wise for condo boards to check out their bylaws and make sure they're updated to deal with the growing and consumption of medical and recreational cannabis.
She said people looking at buying homes should look at the possibility that those houses could have been used to grow cannabis.
"Growing cannabis involves higher humidity levels, right? So you have a higher risk of mould within the property, so you want to take a look at that if you're purchasing a home," she said.
"Certainly home buyers and home sellers would want to take a look at that in their property inspections."
