Windsor Essex County Health Unit
Can my building be smoke-free?
Over the past decade, more and more
spaces in Ontario have become smoke-free.
The creation of smoke-free areas plays an
important role in reducing exposure to
second-hand smoke, making supportive
settings for those trying to quit, and
changing social norms related to smoking
and tobacco use. An area of growing interest
is smoke-free multiunit dwellings, which
may include apartment buildings,
partitioned houses, duplexes, triplexes, row
houses, semidetached houses and
condominiums.
It’s often thought that barring smoking
in a multiunit dwelling is illegal,
unenforceable or impossible. This is not the
case. By urging landlords to adopt voluntary
smoke-free policies, tenants can take the
first step in making living spaces safer and
more pleasant. According to Statistics
Canada, about 38 per cent of Ontarians live
in multiunit housing and are at risk for
exposure to tobacco smoke in their homes
(2011). In fact, almost 29 per cent of
Ontarians living in multiunit housing
reported being exposed to second-hand
tobacco smoke (Centre for Addictions and
Mental Health Monitor, 2011).
Second-hand smoke exposure can
cause lung cancer, coronary heart disease,
asthma and other diseases, and is very
harmful for children and infants who are at
higher risk for respiratory illness. There are
other risks for tenants moving into a living
space formerly occupied by a person who
smoked. Third-hand smoke is one of those
risks. It occurs when the toxins in cigarette
smoke cling to carpet fibres, the paint on
For more information
on smoke-free policies
in multiunit dwellings,
visit the
Smoke-free Housing
Ontario
website at
www.smokefreehousingon.ca
or the
Windsor-Essex County
Health Unit
website at
www.wechu.org
smoking, and a 24 per cent decrease in
second-hand smoke exposure.
At this time, smoking in the public
areas of multiunit dwellings (i.e., entrances
and exits) is not allowed under the
Smoke-free Ontario Act. In most cases, it’s
up to the landlords and property owners to
include more spaces (e.g., single units,
balconies, etc.) as smoke-free. The first step
for tenants is to speak with landlords and let
them know that second-hand smoke is a
concern. Property owners may want to
know some of the economic benefits of
going smoke-free, including less cleaning
a