Autumn Walks, Falling Leaves and Heating: A Fun Fall Quiz

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Autumn is softly settling in across Quebec. Your neighbour’s trees are changing colours … and their leaves are falling into your yard! Whose job is it to pick them up? And with the upcoming colder temperatures, can you force your landlord to turn on the heating in your apartment? Try this short quiz to discover some of the legal challenges that might befall you in the fall! 

A forest trail blanketed with autumn leaves, lined with trees full of yellow and orange leaves.
Quiz sur l’automne (ANG)

You’re walking through the forest and spot some wild mushrooms and plants. Can you pick them?

Wrong answer

You can harvest some plants and mushrooms in the forest, but you have to be careful with vulnerable species. A list of vulnerable species is available on the Quebec government’s website (French only). In Quebec, the Act Respecting Threatened or Vulnerable Species protects certain animals and plants. The law sets limits on harvesting some species, like wild leek. It also prohibits it entirely for others, like certain types of hawthorns.  

Right answer

You can harvest some plants and mushrooms in the forest, but you have to be careful with vulnerable species. A list of vulnerable species is available on the Quebec government’s website (French only). In Quebec, the Act Respecting Threatened or Vulnerable Species protects certain animals and plants. The law sets limits on harvesting some species, like wild leek. It also prohibits it entirely for others, like certain types of hawthorns.   

The temperature’s dropping! When does your landlord have to start heating your apartment?

Wrong answer

There’s no set date, as long as the temperature in your home is adequate. 

The law doesn’t set a specific date when a landlord must start heating rental housing like an apartment.  

If your landlord provides the heat for your home, they must ensure that your place is heated adequately throughout the entire lease. In winter, an adequate indoor temperature is generally around 21°C.  

In other words, a landlord can’t write into the lease the exact dates of when they’ll turn the heat on or off.  

Right answer

There’s no set date, as long as the temperature in your home is adequate. 

The law doesn’t set a specific date when a landlord must start heating rental housing like an apartment.  

If your landlord provides the heat for your home, they must ensure that your place is heated adequately throughout the entire lease. In winter, an adequate indoor temperature is generally around 21°C.  

In other words, a landlord can’t write into the lease the exact dates of when they’ll turn the heat on or off.  

Your yard is covered in leaves from next door. Can you make your neighbour clean it up or compensate you?

Wrong answer

Courts generally consider that removing leaves that have fallen onto your property in autumn is a normal inconvenience of living alongside neighbours. However, it can become “abnormal” when the quantity of leaves is excessive, when it happens repeatedly and when it causes you a major inconvenience. So, you could ask your neighbour for compensation if this problem goes beyond typical yard work. You would have to show that the problem is intolerable, not just a minor inconvenience.

Right answer

Courts generally consider that removing leaves that have fallen onto your property in autumn is a normal inconvenience of living alongside neighbours. However, it can become “abnormal” when the quantity of leaves is excessive, when it happens repeatedly and when it causes you a major inconvenience. So, you could ask your neighbour for compensation if this problem goes beyond typical yard work. You would have to show that the problem is intolerable, not just a minor inconvenience.

For many people, autumn means hunting. Since wild animals don’t belong to anyone, can hunters choose to follow their prey onto your property or set traps there?

Right answer

In Quebec, hunters must receive permission from a property owner before hunting or setting traps on their land.

Wrong answer

In Quebec, hunters must receive permission from a property owner before hunting or setting traps on their land.