Ottawa sees an increase in the number of illegal shisha lounges operating across the city

Ottawa Bylaw has been handing out tickets to shisha lounges illegally operating. Owners say they want to be legalized. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.

The City of Ottawa is expanding enforcement efforts targeting hookah lounges, charging 10 businesses for allowing shisha/waterpipe use in January, as Bylaw Services see a rise in businesses operating across the city.

Under Ottawa’s Smoking and Vaping Bylaw, smoking shisha, whether there’s tobacco or not, is illegal on all City of Ottawa properties and in all enclosed workplaces or public places.

Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services says 13 tickets and four court summons were issued to 10 businesses in January in connection to the illegal use of water pipes.

Fifteen businesses were charged in 2024, with 23 tickets and 24 court summons issued for violating Ottawa’s Smoking and Vaping Bylaw. The city says each court summons may contain multiple charges.

Bylaw Services officers conducted 48 inspections in January, after carrying out 338 inspections of businesses in 2024.

“Bylaw and Regulatory Services conducts both proactive patrols and responds to complaints with regards to the use of water pipes in contravention of the Smoking and Vaping Bylaw,” Roger Chapman, Director of Bylaw and Regulatory Services, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“Enforcement efforts were expanded in 2024, as there has been a noted increase in the number of these illegal establishments in operation.”

The fine for violating the Smoking and Vaping Bylaw is $400, which includes the victim surcharge.

Mohamed Mosalam opened Eleven Lounge last April and says since then he’s received as many as 15 tickets, including at least five in January, for a total of $6,000.

“We don’t want to be an illegal business. We are willing to collaborate with the city to take that step and explain the culture,” he told CTV News Ottawa.

“We’ve been getting a lot of tickets and we’ve been trying to fight. This is a safe space for everybody, we’ve invested almost $40,000 in ventilation itself.”

Chapman says Bylaw Services is aware of 24 waterpipe establishments operating in the city.

“Hookah bars/cafés (water pipe establishments) are not legal,” Chapman said.

“Pursuant to the Smoking and Vaping Bylaw (No. 2019-241, as amended), employers, proprietors, property owners, or other persons in charge may be charged for permitting smoking of water pipes in an enclosed public place, workplace, or outdoor restaurant or bar patio. Additionally, the display of a water pipe or component of a water pipe that contains a smoking product, residue of a smoking product, charcoal, or a liquid that smoke or gases may pass through prior to being inhaled is prohibited under the By-law.”

Chapman says customers at hookah bars/cafés may face fines for using water pipes in establishments.

Mosalam says he hopes the city will reconsider the rules.

“Even if they shut down places, other places will open, so I think we should work together with the city to implement regulations that everyone has to follow,” he said. “These are people that are smokers and they want to practice their culture. So just let them practice.”

--With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Katelyn Wilson