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Landlords can delegate snow removal to tenants, but not in tenancy agreement: Ontario Court of Appeal


November 17, 2009   by Canadian Underwriter


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A landlord can delegate snow removal tasks to tenants, but this must be done in a contractual agreement separate from the tenancy agreement, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled in a slip-and-fall case.
“In order to be effective, a clause that provides that a tenant will provide snow removal services must constitute a contractual obligation severable from the tenancy agreement,” Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Russell Juriansz wrote for the court in Montgomery v. Van.
Juriansz said the clause must be able to stand alone as an enforceable contract, since s. 16 of the Tenant Protection Act voids any provisions in a tenancy agreement that are inconsistent with the Tenant Protection Act.
“The act and regulations make it clear that in the landlord and tenant relationship, the landlord is responsible for keeping the common walkways free of snow and ice,” Jurianz wrote, citing Subsection 26 (1).5 in the regulations of the Tenant Protection Act.
“Therefore, it cannot be a term of the tenancy that the tenant complete snow removal tasks.”
Lindsay Montgomery, a tenant, commenced legal action against her landlord, Duc Van, after slipping and falling at her premises on Jan. 30, 2003.
Montgomery claimed she was injured after slipping on ice on the walkway leading up to her basement apartment and suffered injury.
Van’s defence claimed the tenant’s injury was due to her own negligence because she had “failed to keep her walkway in a state of good repair, including free from snow and ice.”
Van brought a motion to determine before trial if a portion of his tenant agreement with Montgomery — which delegated the task of snow removal to her —was inconsistent with the Tenant Protection Act.
The lower court said the act does not say anywhere that tenants cannot remove snow, and therefore the provision in Montgomery’s tenancy agreement was not inconsistent with the act.
The court of appeal reversed this finding.


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2 Comments » for Landlords can delegate snow removal to tenants, but not in tenancy agreement: Ontario Court of Appeal
  1. Lulah says:

    This discourage to buy house for investment..
    As well as discourge people to rent their own house . After down sizing
    And good for insurance company to hike their rate on the houses..
    Its so sad…

  2. Sarah B. says:

    Does this apply to individual rentals and not shared spaces (i.e. house rental where walkways, backyard, etc) are all for the exclusive use of the tenanr? Law in Ontario says landlord is responsible for exterior maintenance but it is assumed it applies to multi dwelling buildings and common areas. But it does not say so. Strictly speaking the landlord renting out a single dwelling house should be responsible for shovelling snow, weeding, mowing lawn for tenants. When will we have to also come over to do their housekeeping, vacuum, etc. ? The one sided stance against landlords has to stop. With the recent mortgage rate increases (courtesy of the government) many landlords like us are actually renting with a cash flow loss. They are essentially paying for the tenant’s accommodation. Now should they also be their servant and do their chores? All this while being unable to end the tenancy? Is that fair?This is a real and dramatic problem for landlords who could find themselves in a position where they cannot AFFORD to rent out because of the loss, and all the anti-landlord rhetoric out there is only going to discourage small, individual lanlords to renr. Tenant will be left with only big corporations to deal with which will only worsen the situation by decreasing competition. The government is responsible for solving housing affordability crisis, but not by hitting individuals by forcing them to continue renting out at a loss, a situation they (the government) created themselves with the interest rate hikes
    In their political laziness, they could at least have been smart enough to separate the lending rates depending on use, and give a break for mortgage rates. And in Ontario, the provincial governmwnt should stop holding the landlords hostages and free them from their lease once it has expired. What kind of contract is it if you can’t even agree yourself on what you want? Only option is to NOT rent, but once you have started you’re stuck for life since tenants have all the rights and landlords have none, and you can’t end the tenancy if the tenants don’t want to move out, even if it’ s way past the original lease term. My advice to anyone contemplating renting out their property: don’t. You may regret it for years to come as you will be hostage and will have no recourse. All this to suffer financial loss and having to work extra to maintain your property for your tenant’s pleasure.

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