November 18, 2025
Will your homeowners insurance pay you for a loss to your property if you grow marijuana at home?
Whether this specific risk may apply to you or not, it is a question which has popped up in the courts and usefully illustrates some risks to your coverage.
THE CASES
In Ontario, the leading case is Pietrangelo v. Gore Mutual Insurance Company, a 2011 Ontario Court of Appeal decision in which a tenant, without the property owner’s knowledge, was growing cannabis. The tenant caused an explosion. The insurer denied coverage based upon an exclusion clause prohibiting growing marijuana.
Seems straightforward. In teaching insurance law, we use this case to teach about:
- the importance of paying attention to exclusion clauses.
- the concept of material risk
- the risks of being a landlord.
Recently however, the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Busato v. Gore Mutual Insurance Company found coverage in favour of an insured growing medical marijuana legally in his home. The B.C. court considered whether to apply the reasoning in Pietrangelo. Which involved the same insurer and “virtually the same wording”.
Remember, this is not a “criminal act exclusion”, so the legality of the growing activity shouldn’t matter. Or should it?
Why did the court in that case find coverage?
The court decided:
- that the focus in Pietrangelo was on the prohibited or criminal nature of the activity, and
- the facts of the two cases were sufficiently different that when applied to the context of the BC case, the exclusion was ambiguous.
And ambiguity is usually resolved in favour of the insured.
It is unclear how Ontario courts will apply the BC case, but remember, it distinguishes the Ontario case, rather than disagreeing directly with the reasoning. So, there is a potential argument in Ontario now that attitudes to cannabis in law have shifted.
Always remember the importance of the moral high ground- whenever possible, judges will bend the law to suit the facts.
So, in teaching this case, we can use it to illustrate:
- the importance of context
- the rules of interpretation
- the approach to ambiguity
- the importance of the moral high ground
These lessons do not just apply to law students. They may apply to you.
TAKEAWAYS
The first lesson which we hope that you take away from this article is to help you understand some of the complexity of understanding and interpreting insurance policies and applying them in context.
Even insurance companies can get this wrong. Although insurers can at times seize the moral high ground, the “little guy” more naturally defaults into this position.
The most important lesson to take away is that just because the insurer denies your claim is no reason to give up. It is very often worth it to discuss your situation with a lawyer.
WHAT WEILERS LLP CAN DO TO HELP YOU
At Weilers LLP, we have experience dealing with lawsuits of most sorts. We have experience reading insurance policies and know insurance law. If you have an insurance dispute, we can give you the advice you need. If you require help dealing with your insurer, you may give us a call at Weilers LLP. We do not help you for free, but our fees are often a sound investment. If we cannot help you economically, we will let you know. We may be the right lawyers for you.