Health Authorities - Services - Becoming - Laws for Landlords in Alberta Laws for Landlords

Regional Health Authorities

The Public Health Act requires building owners to keep housing premises sanitary and safe. Complaints concerning a breach of the Public Health Act, the Public Health Housing Regulation or the Minimum Housing and Health Standards can be made to a regional health authority. Enforcement of public health standards is carried out by executive officers employed by regional health authorities.

An executive officer has the power to inspect premises to determine if an owner is complying with public health regulations. If you do not allow entry to the premises, the executive officer can apply for a court order. Officers will investigate a complaint and carry out an inspection of the premises to see if the Act is being breached. If a breach is found, the officer can issue an order that the breach be remedied. The health authority can also file the order at the Land Titles Office as a notice of health hazard on the property.

If you do not comply with the order in the time given, the officers can enter the premises and carry out the order. Any expenses incurred are then a debt owing to the health authority by the offending party. If the expenses are not paid, they are registered by the municipality as a tax against the land, owing to the health authority. You can appeal to the Public Health Board.

Anyone against whom an order under the Public Health Act is issued is also guilty of a criminal offence. The maximum fine for a first offence is $2,000. For any subsequent offence, the maximum fine is $5,000. If an order of the health authority is not complied with, you can be fined $100 for every day the order is breached. A health authority may also publish the order if it is not complied with.

December 2005