It could be the cheapest house on the street, an expensive house in a suburban housing development or a regular home in a lower-end neighbourhood. The reality is that grow-ops can be found anywhere, and they hide in plain sight.  

In 2005, there were an estimated 10,000 grow-ops in Toronto alone and approximately 50,000 in Canada, 20,000 of which were in Ontario. These numbers are only growing, and the York Region police believe that if all of the resources were available, they could spend every hour of each day busting grow-ops. 

Shutting down grow-ops leads to headlines that are disproportionately large when compared to the penalties for growers. Few of which see any jail time at all and are back at it in another location sooner than one might think. And for those houses left behind, no one’s in charge of conducting mold inspections and testing before they go back on the market. 

Signs of a grow-op can be obvious and a little discouraging – like dents on the front door from police bashing them in – or hidden and deadly, like the toxic black mold that results from the high humidity needed for growing marijuana plants. Changes in the home’s ventilation and structural integrity aid in the spread of this mold, which is rarely covered up with anything more than a hasty paint job. A home inspection won’t usually find this mold, and a mold inspection must be done to ensure the safety of the future residents.  

And, for those expecting their real estate agent to keep them informed, the Canadian Real Estate Association’s ethics guide regarding grow-ops is full of loopholes. The seller (and listing agent) is only obligated to let a buyer know if the home was a grow-op if there is a latent (hidden) defect the seller knows about, if the buyer asks or if the purchase agreement states the property must not have been used as a grow-op.  

In 2007, the government of Ontario began toying with the idea of implementing a grow-op registry to alert potential homeowners and real estate agents about former grow-op houses, but even today such a concept has not yet become a reality – making it that much more important to obtain a mold inspection if you suspect your home may have been used as a grow-op.

Know what you’re getting into. For professional Mold Inspsection Services in Toronto and Ontario, Contact Moldinspections.ca today.  We can help.

Mold Inspection Services in Ajax, Barrie, Beaverton, Bowmanville, Bracebridge, Brantford, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Cobourg, Collingwood, Georgetown Guelph, Hamilton, Keswick, Kitchener, Lindsay, London , Markham, Milton, Mississauga, Muskoka, Newmarket, Niagara Falls, Oakville, Orangeville, Oshawa, Owen Sound, Peterborough, Pickering, Port Carling, Port Hope, Richmond Hill, Severn Bridge, Sarnia , Simcoe, Southwest Ontario , St Catharines, Thornhill, Toronto, Waterdown, Waterloo, Whitby, Windsor Ontario.

Canada has rather relaxed laws on marijuana use when compared to other countries, and licensed growers running a grow operation for medical use are completely legal.

However, these growers rarely run a commercial facility and often use houses to grow the marijuana. Just like the toxic black mold that is found long after an illegal grow op is shut down and the home is sold without a proper mold inspection to an unsuspecting buyer, these legal operations create just as much heat and humidity – perfect conditions for mold to grow.

The home is in no better shape, and the growers need as much privacy as possible because the legality of their operation is no deterrent for those who would gladly rob a grow-op in the middle of the night. Police are rarely informed about the legal grow ops, according to the Langley RCMP in British Columbia.

They reported recently that they only discovered a local grow-op was indeed legal after numerous complaints from neighbours about the odour. Two weeks later, it was robbed in the middle of the night. These homes also were not technically used for “illegal” activities, so real estate agents are that much less obligated to inform potential buyers or recommend they look into obtaining a mold inspection for the property.

Health Canada grows marijuana treated with radiation to inhibit mold growth potential, but most legal growers using residential property prefer instead to use different strains that are known to treat specific ailments better than Health Canada’s marijuana. Cases where entire families have had to leave a home after only a few months are becoming more and more common because a home inspection process may not find the mold.

If there is mold, it is also extremely difficult to hold the home inspector, real estate agent or seller liable. The legality of a grow-op by no means lessens the health and safety risk presented by mold, but it does increase the likelihood that the future owners of the home won’t know about the potential health and safety complications until it’s too late.