Does a Tenant have to Shovel the Snow?

"The only thing worse than shovelling snow, is shovelling someone else's snow"

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No week would be complete without someone asking this question. I like to make my answer simple, and quote directly from the Ontario Court of Appeal in Montgomery v. Van, 2009 ONCA 808

The landlord is responsible for keeping the

common walkways free of snow and ice.

With that out of the way, and for those of you who would like a more thorough explanation, there are three sections of the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act that matter most here, first is at s20(1)

A landlord is responsible for providing and maintaining a residential complex, including the rental units in it, in a good state of repair and fit for habitation and for complying with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards.

Second is s4(1), which says,

Subject to subsection 12.1 (11) and section 194, a provision in a tenancy agreement that is inconsistent with this Act or the regulations is void.

And Third, at s. 33

The tenant is responsible for ordinary cleanliness of the rental unit, except to the extent that the tenancy agreement requires the landlord to clean it.

"But it says in the lease that the Tenant is

required to shovel snow and cut the grass"

In the leading case on point, Montgomery v Van, 2009 ONCA 808 the Ontario Court of Appeal found that any valid agreement to provide maintenance between the landlord and tenant must be a "severable" agreement. This means, if you include it as a term of the lease, it will fail because that term will contradict the Residential Tenancies Act. The agreement to maintain the property must be able to stand alone, as its own enforceable contract, separate from the lease.

An example of a successful agreement would be if the tenant signed a 12 month lease, and in a second agreement, the landlord and tenant agree that for $100/month, the tenant will care for the outdoor maintenance of the property for the next 12 months. This would then create two separate payment obligations, where the tenant will owe the full value of the rent, and the landlord will have to pay the tenant for performing the maintenance.

What do you mean by Common Areas?

In the case of Crete et al. v. Ottawa Community Housing Corporation et al., 2023 ONSC 5141, the court determined that a set of steps used exclusively by the tenants constituted the tenants' responsibility to shovel snow, as these steps were not considered a common area. At paragraph 60, the court states in part:

Snow and ice are transitory, like autumn leaves that need to be raked or swept or mud that is tracked onto a floor that needs to be mopped up. ... I agree that the removal of snow (which includes the removal of ice and slush) from the exclusive use areas of a residential complex falls within the meaning of s. 33 of the RTA, which makes the tenant responsible for the ordinary cleanliness of a rental unit[3] and not under s. 20(1) of the RTA, the landlord’s responsibility for maintaining a residential complex and its units in a good state of repair.

As always, remember that this blog should not be taken as legal advice and is no substitute for a consult about your specific facts. Do you have questions? Click here to contact Jon today.

Jon Sparling - Paralegal