Since 2018, recreational use of cannabis is legal. But that doesn’t mean you can smoke some anywhere or whenever you want. In certain cases, you could be banned from smoking cannabis, even at home.
If you’re a tenant
Your landlord can ban you from smoking cannabis in your apartment, if they mention the ban in your lease or in the by-laws of the building. If it’s not mentioned in either document, you are allowed to smoke cannabis in your apartment under certain conditions.
Your consumption can’t be excessive, e.g., to the point that the cannabis smell frequently bothers other tenants. You must use your apartment carefully and responsibly. If the situation gets out of hand and causes serious problems, your landlord could ask the Quebec housing tribunal, the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), to cancel your lease.
Even if your landlord allows you to smoke cannabis in your apartment, you aren’t allowed to smoke in common areas inside the building.
If you own a condo
The syndicate of co-owners can ban you from smoking cannabis in common areas, but also in the condos of the building including terrasses and balconies. If you smoke cannabis and plan on buying a condo, you should check the rules of the building you’re interested in. More specifically, you should check the declaration of co-ownership, also called the condo declaration, to see if such a ban is mentioned. If you don’t comply with these rules, the syndicate of co-owners can fine you and sue you. In particularly serious and intolerable cases, the syndicate could go as far as ask a court to force you to sell your condo.
If there are no restrictions in the declaration of co-ownership, you can smoke cannabis in your condo, as long as your consumption doesn’t cause abnormal neighbourhood annoyances. If it does, your neighbours could sue you.
Consuming cannabis for medical reasons
Landlords and syndicates of co-owners can be more flexible if you smoke cannabis for medical reasons. For example, a declaration of co-ownership banning the use of cannabis could allow an exception for condo owners that were prescribed cannabis by their doctor to alleviate pain.
However, having a medical prescription to consume cannabis doesn’t allow you to smoke joints non-stop. You could still get sued for abnormal neighbourhood annoyances. In some cases, even tenants with medical prescriptions have had their leases cancelled because of their excessive cannabis consumption.
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Important! Some actions related to cannabis are banned everywhere and at all times. For example, you can’t share cannabis with people under the age of 21, even inside your own home. For more information, you can consult our article on 7 Things You Should Know About Cannabis in Quebec. |