A Toronto landlord is banning electric vehicles on its property. Tenants' advocates say that's 'unreasonable'

Tenants' rights advocates are raising legal concerns about a Toronto building complex that's banning electric transportation vehicles from the property, including in units, the garage, parking spaces and lockers.

Notices were posted this week at 110 and 120 Jameson Avenue in Parkdale, owned by Oberon Development Corporation, to alert tenants to the ban. 

According to the notice, electric vehicles are not permitted anywhere on the property. Electric bikes and motorbikes, hoverboards, mopeds, segways and skateboard scooters are also part of the ban.

"If you have any of these vehicles, please remove them from the premises immediately," the notice says, adding lithium batteries, a type of rechargeable battery, could be a "potential fire hazard."

E-scooters are currently banned in Toronto, though the city is engaged in a process to examine risks and benefits. 

Douglas Kwan, the director of advocacy and legal services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, a community legal clinic and advocacy organization, said he's never seen such a ban in a residential building. 

"And these are small devices. A segway is so tiny, it's smaller than some vacuum cleaners. It seems unreasonable for the landlord to act in this manner," Kwan said. 

CBC Toronto contacted the property manager for comment, but did not receive a response.

Kwan says such a ban could violate legislation that protects tenants' rights and could also violate Ontario's Human Rights Code.

Asked if property managers can implement such a ban, the Landlord and Tenant Board did not respond directly, saying tenants who believe a landlord has breached the Residential Tenancies Act can file an application to the board.

Toronto Fire Services (TFS) told CBC Toronto that it has responded to 47 fires involving lithium ion batteries this year, 10 of which took place in residential high-rises. Parking an electric vehicle in an exit hallway or exit stairway is against the Ontario Fire Code, it said. 

"Condo corporations are entitled to implement any condo rules for the operation of their building. That is bound by separate legislation that TFS does not intervene with," it added.

The Residential Tenancies Act guarantees a tenant's right to the "reasonable enjoyment" of the premises, Kwan pointed out. That can include everything from having a guest over for a meal, or using a chosen method of transportation and storing it in your unit, he said.

In the act, landlords are afforded certain rights around choosing a tenant, collecting rent, increasing rent and evicting tenants — but there is no specific language around whether they can make rules regarding tenants' personal property.