Largest Yellowknife landlord bans cannabis growing, smoking

Yellowknife’s largest landlord has barred tenants from cultivating or smoking cannabis inside its properties.

Northview REIT, which offers rental units in more than two-dozen locations across the city, issued notices to residents over the past few days as the legalization of cannabis approaches on Wednesday, October 17.

The notice states Northview “will prohibit the smoking or cultivation of cannabis (or any related products) on any Northview properties, including in all suites and common areas.”

Banning the growing and smoking of cannabis, Northview said, was a step taken to “protect and promote the safety and well-being of all our residents.”

However, the company says residents will be allowed to “consume cannabis in other forms (i.e. through means other than smoking)” as long as doing so does not interfere with other tenants’ enjoyment of their homes.

The letter, dated October 12, appears to have been distributed in the company’s apartment buildings throughout Canada, though this could not be immediately confirmed.

Residents with “personal circumstances warranting special consideration” – a category understood to include medicinal use – are instructed to contact their regional offices.

Northview operates 1,309 apartment units in the Northwest Territories, according to its 2017 annual report. The average monthly rent in Northview’s NWT and Nunavut properties was $2,089 as of December 31, 2017.

It has a net operating income – the money made from properties once all expenses related to operating them are subtracted – of approximately $60 million in the North and $190 million across Canada.