No-pet clause: Quebec court grants appeal of housing tribunal ruling allowing pets

The Court of Québec granted an appeal of the housing tribunal decision (TAL) declaring that no-pet clauses in leases violate renters’ charter rights.

A recent Léger poll for the Montreal SPCA found that while one in two households has a companion animal, 87 per cent of units prohibit or restrict them.

“The woman was looking for a smaller apartment. So she had to give him up. I went to meet him in their house and we got on very well and we decided that I would be able to adopt him. And the poor woman just, she had such tears in her eyes,” said one Montrealer CityNews spoke to.

Sophie Gaillard, the animal advocacy & legal government affairs director with the Montreal SPCA, said, “There’s really a huge problem and of course those who are disproportionately affected by this are the most vulnerable members of our society. So people with lower incomes, victims of domestic violence who are trying to flee a situation, want to bring their animal with them and can’t find a place that accepts their animals.”

Martin A. Messier, the president of APQ, added, “We always want to insist and make it clear that we have nothing against pets; I love dogs. We all love animals. The thing is, in some cases, the pet owner is not taking proper care of his pet.”

Justice Scott Hughes found that the issued raised by the case were serious, novel and of public importance to merit an appeal.

A landlord had sought the appeal in late May after the administrative court had issued a decision in March ruling that clauses banning renters from owning pets violated Quebec’s Charter of Human of Rights and Freedoms.

In a statement Monday, Montreal SPCA said it had partially consented to the appeal.

“While we remain confident that the first-instance decision was well founded, we welcome the opportunity to present our arguments before the Court of Québec,” said Sophie Gaillard, director of animal advocacy and legal and government affairs at the Montreal SPCA.

“A victory on appeal could uphold the TAL’s ruling and establish a binding precedent that its judges would be required to follow in future cases.”

The animal shelter said that it is expecting to take in up to twice as many animals this year leading up to the July 1 moving day, adding that being unable to find pet-friendly housing was of the main reasons why tenants surrender their pets.

“We did consent in part to the appeal because we do consider that it’s a novel question, a question of public interest and therefore warrants the evaluation of a higher level court. And it’s also the opportunity for us to try to have this groundbreaking decision affirmed by a higher level court which would create a legally binding precedent,” said Gaillard.

Adding, “If the court of Quebec upholds the first instance decision that means that in future cases housing administrative tribunal judges will be bound to follow that reasoning. So it’s an interesting perspective for us to be able to have the court of Quebec confirm all this.”

While Messier said, “It doesn’t mean even if the decision of the rental board is upheld, that we put an ax on all those no pet clauses and that we have in Quebec, far from it. There will be a debate. There will be a new dimension to it, maybe, but it still will be, will be possible for landlords to put down an open disposition.”

For staff at the Montreal SPCA, who every year say they see the number of abandoned pets skyrocket to an average of 40 animals a day, to even as high as 70 animals during moving season – winning the court appeal isn’t the only solution. 

“There’s a very straightforward solution to this problem and that is a legislative solution. So the government of Quebec has all the tools at its disposal to simply put an end to ‘no pet’ clauses as has already been done elsewhere like in Ontario and France and other parts of the world,” said Gaillard.