Take Steps to Reduce Second-hand Smoke

Document and Track Second-Hand Smoke Issues

To effectively address second-hand smoke concerns, it’s essential to track both the source and impact using a detailed log. This documentation can help determine if the issue meets the legal threshold of nuisance—an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of property.

Identify the Source of the Smoke

• Track how smoke is entering the unit:
  • Through windows or doors
  • Via bathroom or kitchen exhaust fans
  • From electrical outlets or vents
  • Through gaps between walls or baseboards

• Try to determine where the smoke is coming from:
  • A neighbouring unit or balcony
  • An outdoor smoking area
  • Common areas (e.g., hallway, stairwell)

• Note when the issue began:
  • Was the smoke present at move-in?
  • Did it start after a new tenant moved in?

Track Frequency and Timing

• Record specific dates and times when smoke enters the unit
• Identify how often the issue occurs (daily, weekly, etc.)
• Note whether smoke appears at certain times of day (e.g., evenings, early mornings)

Measure the Impact

• Describe the amount and strength of smoke:
  • Is it a faint smell or overwhelming?
  • Does it stay in one room or spread throughout the unit?
• Document how the smoke affects your home use:
  • Are certain areas unusable?
  • Does the smell linger for extended periods?
  • Does it disrupt sleep, health, or quality of life?

Understand Legal and Health Considerations

• Everyone has the right to reasonable enjoyment of their home
• Legal precedent (e.g., Hotel Corp. v. E.B. Eddy Forest Products Ltd., 1988) supports that second-hand smoke can constitute a legal nuisance, especially when it causes:
  • Ongoing exposure
  • Physical damage (e.g., odour absorption in furniture or walls)
• Proof of nuisance does not require intent or negligence—only that the impact is unreasonable

Report Violations in Common Areas

• If smoking occurs in indoor common areas (e.g., stairwells, lobbies, laundry rooms):
  • Contact your local public health unit
  • Violations fall under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017
  • By law, no-smoking/no-vaping signs must be posted in all indoor common areas

Health impacts of smoke can be documented by:

• Writing down symptoms or illnesses caused by smoke, such as asthma attack, headache, burning and watery eyes, sore throat, chronic coughing, bronchitis, ear infections and heart problems.
• Thinking about whether the smoke is making a pre-existing health problem worse. Some health problems that can be made worse by smoke include asthma, allergies, heart disease, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, and cancer.
• Writing down whether smoke causes anxiety or fear because of the potential or actual health impacts. Babies who are exposed to second-hand smoke have a higher risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), so this is important to document.

Impact on use and enjoyment of unit can be documented by asking:

• Are members unable to live in parts of their home at times because of the smoke?
• Are members forced to stay out of certain rooms?
• Are members unable to open windows or balcony door?
• Are members unable to use balconies?
• Are members unable to use fans or heating system?
• Are members unable to use certain cupboards, drawers or closets?
• Have members been forced to leave home on certain days or at specific times to avoid the smoke?
• Are members friends and family members with health conditions unable to visit because of the smoke?

Collect other evidence

• Check the declaration, by-laws and rules. There may already be policies in place about behaviours or nuisances.
• Obtain written proof from neighbours, friends and family about the amount and frequency of smoke entering units.
• Get a physician letter confirming that exposure to second-hand smoke makes you or your family members sick, or makes an existing condition or illness worse.

Sealing units to reduce second-hand smoke transfer

• Use caulk or spray-in foam around plumbing, electrical outlets, phone jacks, fixtures, cracks and gaps
• Close windows and doors
• Weather-strip windows and install door sweeps
• Cover or block heating/cooling grilles
• Fill or patch cracks in walls and ceilings
• Insulate air spaces around plumbing pipes

Accessing and Improving Building Ventilation

Most buildings built after the mid-1960s have corridor ventilation systems designed to maintain positive pressure by pushing outside air into hallways and under doors, preventing odors from spreading. Older buildings rely on air leakage through cracks for ventilation. Many buildings also have exhaust systems in kitchens and bathrooms, either in-unit or centrally located.

If smoke is entering units under the front door from other units, the property manager could check the ventilation system to make sure that it is working properly. Sometimes the systems operate on a timer and the schedule may need to be adjusted.

• Inspect ventilation system operation and timers
• Clean/change filters
• Test bathroom/kitchen fans (e.g., tissue test)
• Repair/replace non-functioning fans
• Explore pressurization or HEPA-filtered ventilation options
• Consult on restricting air from smoking units

While improved ventilation can reduce smoke odour and irritation, no system can eliminate exposure to harmful chemicals in second-hand smoke to a safe level.

Speak with residents and co-op supports

• Talk to the person who is smoking. They may not realize that the smoke is a problem for you. Focus on solutions such as asking the neighbor to smoke outside.
• Share information about second-hand smoke in co-op newsletters or online site for residents.
• A survey of members about second-hand smoke exposure and interest in a no-smoking policy for the condominium could be conducted to determine how to move forward.

Speak with the co-op board

Co-ops decide things democratically, either by majority vote of the board or members, depending on the issue. Before taking any action, read co-op’s by-laws to understand how decisions are made. Every housing co-operative in Ontario has its own unique by-laws or rules that determine how it is managed.

• Ask the co-op board of directors to discuss second-hand smoke at the next board meeting or annual general meeting.
• Members could show their log of second-hand smoke concerns, letters of support, and talk about how smoke disrupts their life and affects health. Members can show what they have done and suggest specific solutions.
• Mediation could be one way to solve the problem.

If the board of directors is not supportive, members could try to requisition the board to call a members’ meeting.

• Section 79 (1) of the Act provides that 5% of the members of a co-operative may requisition the directors to call a general meeting of the members for any purpose connected with the affairs of the co-operative and that is not inconsistent with the Co-operative Corporations Act.
• If the directors do not call and hold a meeting within 30 days from the date of the deposit of the requisition, any of the requisitionists may call the meeting, which shall be held within 60 days from the date of the deposit of the requisition under Section 78 (4)).
• Where a bylaw or resolution is passed at the general meeting of the members, it is as valid and effective as if it had been passed at a meeting of the directors duly called, constituted and held for that purpose, and if the resolution or bylaw is passed by at least two-thirds of the votes cast (one vote per member), it shall be conclusively deemed to be a special resolution or a bylaw, as the case may be, for the purposes of this Act(section 70 (6)).
• Keep all records of correspondence with the members, corporation or property manager concerning second-hand smoke.

For additional information refer to Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (Ontario), Ontario Co-Operative Association, Co-operative Corporations Act, and if required consider reaching out to a legal professional with expertise in co-op law.

Other steps that can be taken if second-hand smoke is an ongoing problem:

• If second-hand smoke exposure is a problem, write a complaint letter to the co-op board requesting they take action.
• Provide documented evidence about the source of the smoke, frequency, duration, health impact and the impact on the use and enjoyment of the unit.
• Include other supporting evidence such as a physician letter about health impacts or letters from friends and neighbours that confirm the problem.
• Identify steps taken to resolve the problem to date.
• Propose possible solutions and ask for a response by a specific date.

If a co-op board refuses to act or smoke cannot be reduced or eliminated to a suitable level, there are a few last resort measures that can be taken. Before taking formal steps such as opening a lawsuit, it is recommended that you seek legal advice.

• Explore an injunction to prevent person(s) from smoking in the building
  You need to seek legal advice for how to proceed.
• Apply to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario