What to know
- In most cases, snow and ice removal at rental properties is the landlord’s responsibility, especially in apartment buildings and shared common areas.
- Responsibility can vary depending on the type of rental, the lease agreement and local bylaws, with different rules for apartments, detached homes and multiplexes.
- Tenants may only be responsible for shovelling in areas used exclusively by them, or if their lease, or a separate agreement clearly states this.
- Toronto’s snow removal bylaw requires sidewalks and pathways to be cleared, but does not specify whether landlords or tenants must do it, leaving that decision to the lease or separate agreements.
Winter is officially starting soon and with that comes the question of who is responsible for shovelling snow off rental properties in Toronto, tenants or landlords?
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Lee Webb, the director of client services at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR), tells Now Toronto that shovelling is in fact the responsibility of the landlord.
“For rental homes, by default, if the lease doesn’t say anything about who’s responsible, it’s most likely that landlords are responsible to clear snow and ice from the rental units, and this is especially true for common spaces,” he said.
However, the answer might vary depending on the type of property you live in, your lease agreement, and municipality.
While Section 20 of Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act states that the landlord is responsible for providing maintenance and repair to the “residential complex,” Section 33 determines that tenants are responsible for ordinary cleaning, which makes the issue more complicated.
According to Webb, for those living in apartment buildings, the landlord would be entirely responsible for snow and ice removal. But the situation varies for those in detached homes and multiplexes.
Last year, an Ontario Court of Appeal decided that tenants are responsible for shovelling areas that are exclusively used by them in Crete v Ottawa Community Housing Corporation, but that might also vary.
“That decision was considering a case where the tenancy agreement had text in it saying the tenant was responsible. So, it’s not actually clear for sure if a tenant would be responsible, even in a detached home, if their lease was silent about who is to clear snow,” he said.
“Depending on the local bylaws and on whether there’s a part of the lease that says the tenant is responsible for shoveling their own areas, the tenant may be responsible for shoveling areas that are for their exclusive use.”
Those living in duplexes or multiplexes which share common areas with others or the landlord, could be responsible for cleaning their own pathways and exclusive-use areas, while the landlord would have to clean common areas.
In other cases, the landlord and tenant can also come up with an agreement, which would need to be finalized separately from the lease itself.
This separate agreement would determine which of the parties would be responsible for the cleaning, as well as other factors related to this responsibility, from the frequency of cleaning to addressing separate costs.
“They can make an agreement that the tenant will shovel the snow, and as long as that agreement can kind of stand on its own, separate from the lease, then that’s also legally enforceable, and the tenant can do that. But for that, the agreement should specify what it requires, like how often it may be, [or] an additional amount that the tenant is receiving in return for shoveling the snow,” Webb said.
WHAT DOES THE CITY SAY?
The City of Toronto also has its own bylaw on snow and ice removal, which states that all owners and occupants have the responsibility to clean private sidewalks and pathways.
The bylaw doesn’t help determine who is responsible for cleaning the pathways, only granting that the space needs to be cleaned.
“From the city’s perspective, they just need somebody, whether it’s the landlord or the tenant, to clear the sidewalk,” he said.
“It’s up to the agreement between the tenant and the landlord to determine who ultimately will have responsibility for that, even though the city can ask either one of them to do it.”
HOW TO ENSURE THE LANDLORD IS SHOVELLING
In case the landlord is fully responsible for cleaning, Webb says tenants shouldn’t have to notify them about the need for the service. In this case, it would be up to the landlord to stay on top of conditions, and clean it as need be.
However, the landlord and tenant might also make an agreement in which the landlord would need to be notified about the need for shovelling.
“If the landlord and tenant want to work at a system where the tenant notifies the landlord, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the responsibility for doing it and everything that relates to that is the landlords,” he said.
In case the landlord fails to shovel, Webb recommends that tenants notify them, or even perform the cleaning themselves but keep a record of the service. Another course of action would be to notify the city.
“They may be able to call 311, and ask for the municipality to come and see if the landlord is complying with their responsibilities under the property standards bylaw.”
