The Quebec rental board has been asked to rule whether a landlord can force a tenant to not smoke in a rented apartment.

Olesia Koretski and Matthew Newland went to the board this spring to enforce a no-smoking rule in their building.

The couple rent an apartment to Sandra Fowler, who is a smoker but moved into the duplex last summer after filling out a form that stated the building was non-smoking.

The landlords said Fowler's habit is affecting their home, which they say fills with the smell of smoke and exacerbates Koretski's asthma. Koretski is 33 weeks pregnant and concerned about second-hand smoke.

Fowler is fighting the case, arguing there is no clause in her lease that forbids her from smoking. "If it was that important to them, they would have included it in the lease," she told CBC News. "If it's important to your life and well-being, you make sure it's there. It wasn't there."

Fowler said she would have never signed the lease if there had been a no-smoking clause. The rental board is expected to rule in May.