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The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit wants to add multi-unit residential buildings to the list of places where smoking is not allowed.
"We are advocating for the voluntary transition of multi-unit housing to smoke-free, because there is no way to prevent tobacco smoke from seeping between units that share walls when it comes in via ducting, outlets etc.," said Leslie Gordon, tobacco-free living coordinator at the health unit.
About one in five Simcoe County residents are smokers.
"If you live in a single-family home and want to protect the health of everyone living there, you do not permit smoking indoors," Gordon said. "If you live in an apt in a house, or in a townhouses complex, you don’t have that option if your neighbor is smoking.
"It will seep into your unit – unless you are in a smoke free building.
The campaign is intended to let tenants and landlords know that smoke-free housing is healthy, legal and in demand (there are more non smokers than smokers in the population looking to live in multi-unit dwellings.
When Cecilia DeCourcy decided to downsize and move into a condominium townhouse she never thought twice about what went on behind closed doors at her neighbours’ homes. Now she can’t help but think about it.
The Penetanguishene resident says she is worried that with more townhomes going up for sale in her 20-unit complex, new buyers who smoke in their homes may end up moving in.
“My next door neighbour was an occasional smoker and she tried to be considerate with her smoking,” DeCourcy says, “but we all share a common roof here and drifting smoke has no conscience; it seeps in anywhere it can.
“I was so happy when she quit. I can’t imagine what it would be like if a lot of people who smoke moved into the complex.”
Similar to many of the people living in condos and apartments who call the health unit for help, DeCourcy says she wishes she insisted on a no smoking complex when she was looking to buy a home five years ago.
She has approached members of her condominium board of directors and asked them to consider changing the declaration to make the complex no smoking—both to protect her health and her investment in her home.
A 2013 Ipsos Reid survey of real estate professionals found that homes where smoking occurs have lower resale values ranging from 10 to 29 per cent below smoke-free homes.
Gordon says it will take time to make buildings 100 per cent smoke free, depending on the number of units where smoking occurs and the turnover rate of a building so it is not an overnight solution for people wanting smoke free air unfortunately.
"We try to reach developers and builders and municipal partners to encourage them to make their buildings smoke free when they release them to the market," she said.
"The business case is strong when you look at the percentage of the population that smokes, resale value of properties with regular smoking and reduced maintenance costs for smoke free units.
So far, however, restrictions are all voluntary and the health unit focus is on education, awareness and support to those wanting to make the transition.
"Ideally, we would like to see the supply of smoke-free housing equal the demand so that no one is involuntarily exposed to secondhand smoke," Gordon concluded.
"As social norms have changed and smoking in spaces where people share the air is no longer acceptable; so too has the call for smoke-free housing."
She highlighted a 2010 Ipsos Reid survey to illustrate that people want protection from secondhand smoke where they live:
- About a third (32%) of respondents indicated they were exposed to secondhand smoke on a regular basis
(a few times a week or more, once a week or once every couple of weeks); - Over half (53%) reported that the smoke came in from outside, through an open window;
- About a third (35%) have approached landlords/management/
government in an effort to address the problem; - Asked to choose between two identical buildings, 80 per cent said they would select the building where smoking was prohibited.
