A Dawson City man has lost his lawsuit against the Yukon Housing Corp. (YHC) and its recently smoke-free rental units.

Alan Sider took the government to court after the YHC changed its policy and began forbidding tenants from smoking in their homes.

In May 2011, the department decided to convert all of its housing to non-smoking buildings.

That includes all the territory's 650 social housing units as well as the 150 units for government employees.

Seventy social housing units and 28 staff homes are in Dawson City.

"At the time of the change, we were building 125 new units and so we thought it was a good time to switch over to non-smoking units,” Don Routledge, a senior program advisor with the YHC, said Monday.

Tenants already in the buildings were given until Jan. 1, 2012 to comply with the new rule.

Sider, a tenant since before the new policy was created, claimed the new policy couldn't apply to him because there was no mention of a no smoking requirement in the agreement he signed when he moved in.

According to that arrangement, any changes to the contract have to be agreed to by both the tenant and the landlord, Sider said.

In his written decision released Monday, territorial judge John Faulkner pointed to a different clause in the contract. It gives the landlord the right to make regulations regarding the safety, care and cleanliness of the premises and the tenants.

"Smoking inside of the unit affects safety, affects the care, affects cleanliness, and affects other tenants,” he said.

Based on that clause, the judge ruled the YHC is within its rights to create the no indoor smoking rule.

Sider then went on to argue that the new policy, even if the tenancy agreement allows it, goes against his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The judge disagreed.

"Smoking is not a right protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms nor does the Charter provide, as Mr. Sider suggests, that the law cannot be changed to restrict smoking if not such law existed at the time the Charter came into effect,” Faulkner said.

"This is simply not a correct interpretation of the Charter and, if one needs any proof, one can simply look at the fact that subsequent to the Charter coming into effect, a substantial body of statute law has been passed related to the restricting of smoking, for example, in or near public buildings.”

Routledge said he is pleased the case has come to a close.

"Overall, we've not had a lot of issues with the implementation of the policy,” he said adding that tenants can still smoke outside of their buildings.

Under the new policy, tenants are given two warnings before eviction is a possibility.

To his knowledge, no tenant has been evicted for violating the no smoking indoors rule, Routledge said.

Smoke-free buildings are healthier for all tenants and will save money in the long run by reducing the number of times a unit needs to be repainted or have its carpet changed, he said.

There have been no changes to the YHC's application process, meaning smokers are still welcome to apply as long as they agree not to smoke inside.

As for whether Sider is still living in one of the YHC's buildings, Routledge said he can't comment on specific tenants because of confidentiality concerns.