There is a controversy regarding whether or not seasonal campgrounds are covered by or excluded from the Residential Tenancies Act. Most campground owner believe they are not covered by the RTA while others think they are avoiding the issue with an exclusion clause in their site contract. Both of these are deluding themselves. Read on!

The information provided in this site is NOT LEGAL ADVICE. If you have any questions or concerns about this information, contact a lawyer.

The LTB will always decide that the RTA does not apply based on their own interpretation of the ACT, The Ontario Appeals Court differs and has overturned two  of four LTB decisions.(The second two were not appealed)

From the LTB

The RTA applies to most mobile home parks and land lease communities.

It does not apply to:

• a mobile home park or land lease site used by people who are travelling or on vacation
• a mobile home park site in a resort, tourist camp, campground, or trailer park that is only occupied for a seasonal or temporary period.

NOTE: this is an LTB Interpretation of Rule 5A

 Case Law: Mathews v. Algoma Timberlake with the following comments about rule 5(a)

The Court of Appeal’s decision is consistent with the Divisional Court’s prior decision in Putnam v. Grand River Conservation Authority (2006), 210 O.A.C. 291. Both cases stand for the proposition that, where cottage or cabin establishments are at issue, the RTA only excludes those cottages or cabins that are operated analogous to rooms in a hotel, seasonal campsite or bed and breakfast. Where the cottage or cabin is a permanent structure constructed on lands leased year-round by the tenant, the cottage or cabin is a “land lease home” and the tenant is entitled to the protections of the RTA.

“The ‘seasonal or temporary’ exclusion in S. 5(a) of the Act did not apply to the cottages in question. The evidence established that the leases were intended to be continually renewed over a long period of time. All of the leases provided for payment of rent on an annual basis.

Putnam v. Grand River Conservation Authority, 2006 CanLII 18526 (ON SCDC)

Note: 3(a) referred to here is 5(a) in the current version of the RTA

The Tribunal’s interpretation of section 3(a) of the Act is an
interpretation based upon the listing of the areas of ‘living
accommodation … occupied for a seasonal or temporary period’.

That list contains only areas of accommodation that are owned or managed by a person or business offering the accommodation service.

To interpret ‘cottage or cabin establishment’ as something different from the other portions of the list is not an acceptable interpretation, nor logical. The plain reading of the list demands that this phrase be given an interpretation which makes it a part of the list, as opposed to one which makes it diametrically different from the other words and phrases in the listing.
Therefore, one is left with an exemption for living accommodation
occupied as a temporary or seasonal residence only if that
residence is part of the named and listed types of accommodation.
In this case, the Applicants clearly are temporary residents,
occupying their living accommodation from time-to-time, but
those residences are not part of a ‘cottage or cabin establishment’
that is analogous to a hotel, a motel, an inn, a ‘bed and breakfast’,
or a campground or trailer park.

The LTB Decision that campgrounds are not covered by the RTA was overturned on Appeal in both these cases. There are other cases with this same decision by the LTB that have not been appealed.

Unfortunately These decisions are not binding on future cases before the LTB

Some campgrounds have it written into their license of occupation(aka site agreement) that the RTA does NOT apply based on RTA Part1 Section 5(a).

Note the highlighted text. Does the campground supply the living accommodations? This exemption will apply to cabins and cottages, supplied as rental units by the park but not to facilities owned by the tenants.

Exemptions from Act

5.  This Act does not apply with respect to,

(a) living accommodation

intended to be provided to the traveling or vacationing public or
occupied for a seasonal or temporary period in a hotel, motel or motor hotel, resort, lodge, tourist camp, cottage or cabin establishment, inn, campground, trailer park, tourist home, bed and breakfast vacation establishment or vacation home;

The Landlord Tenant Board would have you think that seasonal campgrounds are not covered by the RTA but this is based on the board working with their own wording for this section of the act.

ie:   However, the Act does not apply to a site that is:

• intended for use by a person who is travelling or on vacation, or
• in a resort, tourist camp, campground, or trailer park that is occupied for only a seasonal or temporary period.

This is NOT what the ACT says(See 5(a) above). The act specifically refers to living accommodations, Not a site.

In fact case law  in Putnam v. Grand River Conservation Authority. 2006 clearly repudiates the opinion of the Landlord Tenant Board on this matter. Rule 5A in the current RTA is Rule 3A in the version in effect for this case.

[From Putnam v. Grand River Conservation Authority. 2006 ]

The listing of places where this seasonal or temporary accommodation is to take place clearly is a listing of places, owned by private persons or businesses, which appeal to the general public as vacation spots or places to stay when one is away from home. They represent accommodation for travellers, for vacationers, for anyone who needs temporary accommodation provided by someone other than themselves.

Alternate arrangement for 5(a) based on the Putnam Decision

5.  This Act does not apply with respect to,

(a) living accommodation (provided by the campground)

• intended to be provided to the travelling or vacationing public or
• occupied for
  • a seasonal or temporary period
    • in a hotel, motel or motor hotel, resort, lodge, tourist camp, cottage or
    • cabin establishment, inn, campground, trailer park, tourist home, bed and breakfast vacation establishment or vacation home;

INTENT of the RTA with regard to Campgrounds and Trailer Parks

Let’s think about the Intend of the RTA. Was the intent to include seasonal campgrounds or to exclude them. The ONLY rule that the LTB has picked on is 5A, to exclude campgrounds, and by accepting that rule they can play the seasonal card. Also if this is the true intent, why is there a Section X  (MOBILE HOME PARKS AND LAND LEASE COMMUNITIES).

The RTA does dot supply a definition of Campground for Trailer Park, and to fully understand the intent of the RTA 5(a) we need those definitions.

Some say that the Oxford dictionary is the official Dictionary of Canada. here is what the Oxford dictionary has to say.

Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Campground:North American term for campsite.

Campsite:A place used for camping, especially one equipped with cooking grills, water, and bathrooms.

Trailer Park: North American Term for  caravan site.

Caravan Site: An area where caravans may be parked and used for holidays or as permanent homes.

Government of Canada – Termium Plus,  The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

(http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&index=alt)

Campground: A portion of land made of a number of campsites; it may include facilities such as roads, parking lots, sanitary and water utilities.

Campsite:An area which provides a tent site or a trailer space for campers, and which may be equipped with a picnic table and a fire ring.

Trailer Park: A campground equipped with running water, electricity, and other facilities, for accommodating automobile trailers.

If we apply these definitions to Rule 5A, then we see that campground, or trailer park do NOT describe the facility that is defined in the RTA as Land Lease Homes in a Land Lease Community.

However, if the intent was to include campgrounds and the LTB’s interpretation of Rule 5A is flawed then the seasonal card is also off the table.

Definitions (RTA)

“land lease home” means a dwelling, other than a mobile home, that is a permanent structure where the owner of the dwelling leases the land used or intended for use as the site for the dwelling; (“maison à bail foncier”)

“land lease community” means the land on which one or more occupied land lease homes are situate and includes the rental units and the land, structures, services and facilities of which the landlord retains possession and that are intended for the common use and enjoyment of the tenants of the landlord; (“zone résidentielle à baux fonciers”)

“mobile home” means a dwelling that is designed to be made mobile and that is being used as a permanent residence; (“maison mobile”)

“mobile home park” means the land on which one or more occupied mobile homes are located and includes the rental units and the land, structures, services and facilities of which the landlord retains possession and that are intended for the common use and enjoyment of the tenants of the landlord; (“parc de maisons mobiles”)

“rent” includes the amount of any consideration paid or given or required to be paid or given by or on behalf of a tenant to a landlord or the landlord’s agent for the right to occupy a rental unit and for any services and facilities and any privilege, accommodation or thing that the landlord provides for the tenant in respect of the occupancy of the rental unit, whether or not a separate charge is made for services and facilities or for the privilege, accommodation or thing, but “rent” does not include,

(a) an amount paid by a tenant to a landlord to reimburse the landlord for property taxes paid by the landlord with respect to a mobile home or a land lease home owned by a tenant, or

(b) an amount that a landlord charges a tenant of a rental unit in a care home for care services or meals; (“loyer”)

“rental unit” means any living accommodation used or intended for use as rented residential premises, and “rental unit” includes,

(a) a site for a mobile home or site on which there is a land lease home used or intended for use as rented residential premises, and

(b) a room in a boarding house, rooming house or lodging house and a unit in a care home; (“logement locatif”)

“residential complex”, except in Part V.1, means,

(a) a building or related group of buildings in which one or more rental units are located,

(b) a mobile home park or land lease community,

(c) a site that is a rental unit,

(d) a care home, and,

includes all common areas and services and facilities available for the use of its residents; (“ensemble d’habitation”)

“residential unit” means any living accommodation used or intended for use as residential premises, and “residential unit” includes,

(a) a site for a mobile home or on which there is a land lease home used or intended for use as a residential premises, and

(b) a room in a boarding house, rooming house or lodging house and a unit in a care home; (“habitation”)

More From The RTA (Part X)

mobile home parks and land lease communities

Application

152. (1) This Part applies with respect to tenancies in mobile home parks.  2006, c. 17, s. 152 (1).

Same; land lease communities

(2) This Part applies with necessary modifications with respect to tenancies in land lease communities, as if the tenancies were in mobile home parks.  2006, c. 17, s. 152 (2).

Interpretation

153. A reference in this Part to a tenant’s mobile home shall be interpreted to be a reference to a mobile home owned by the tenant and situated within a mobile home park of the landlord with whom the tenant has a tenancy agreement.  2006, c. 17, s. 153.

Based on the definitions presented above, I would put forward the premise that Tenant owned Park Model Trailers, Trailers with Florida Rooms attached, and others that are permanently mounted on rented sites are Land Lease Homes in Land Lease Communities and as such these sites are covered by the RTA.. The term campground or trailer park do not reflect the true nature of the situation.