Updated October 3, 2026 · DF Property Management
What RentSafeTO is
RentSafeTO is the City of Toronto's apartment building standards program. It sits on top of the provincial Residential Tenancies Act and Toronto's Property Standards by-law, and turns "keep the building in good repair" into specific, checkable obligations: registration, written plans, response times, posted information and regular City evaluations.
The program is run by Municipal Licensing & Standards. Its inspectors walk the common areas — lobbies, corridors, stairwells, garbage rooms, parking garages and grounds — and score what they see. That score now follows the building onto a sign at the front door.
Who it covers
RentSafeTO applies to rental apartment buildings with three or more storeys and ten or more units. That captures most of Toronto's purpose-built rental stock: the 1950s–1970s slab towers of St. James Town, Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, and the three- and four-storey walk-ups along Eglinton West, Bathurst and Kingston Road.
Social and community housing providers are included too, though their fees are waived. A fourplex, a house with a basement suite or a two-storey building with twelve units falls outside the program — but still has to meet the Property Standards by-law and the Fire Code.
Registration and 2026 fees
Every eligible building must be registered with the City and the registration renewed every year. The fee is charged per unit and covers the City's routine evaluations. Other fees apply only when a building runs into trouble.
| Fee (2026) | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Registration / renewal | $30.82 per residential unit | Every year, every building |
| Re-evaluation | $370.99 per building | When a further evaluation is needed |
| Audit administration | $3,136.64 | Buildings selected for an audit |
| Audit inspection | $165.19 per hour, per officer | Time spent on audit inspections |
| Targeted engagement | $3,136.64 | Buildings with a falling score or a red sign |
For a 120-unit building, registration alone is about $3,700 a year. Fees rise annually under the City's user fee policy.
The written plans you must keep
RentSafeTO expects owners to run the building to a plan, and to be able to show the plan to an inspector. The core documents are:
- State of good repair (capital) plan — a five-year forecast of major repairs, using the City's template, available to tenants on request.
- Electrical maintenance plan — prepared with a licensed electrical contractor, with records of the work done.
- Vital service disruption plan — what you do when heat, water or power fails unexpectedly.
- Pest management plan — the licensed operator, treatment schedule and products used, with common areas inspected for pests at least every 30 days.
- Cleaning plan — a list of common areas and how often each is cleaned.
- Waste management information — garbage, recycling and organics instructions for tenants.
Owners must also keep service logs for fuel-burning appliances, heating, cooling, ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems.
The tenant notification board
Every building needs a notification board in a common area. Among other things, it must show:
- RentSafeTO information and how to reach 311
- The most recent evaluation result
- Planned and unplanned service disruptions — what is affected, for how long, and which units
- A 24-hour emergency contact name and phone number
- The nearest cooling location
- Upcoming audit dates, at least 30 days in advance
- Major capital projects, pest treatments and the cleaning plan
- City orders, Fire Code violations and property standards notices
Tenant service requests: the 24-hour and seven-day rules
You need a written process for receiving, tracking and closing tenant service requests. The response times are fixed:
- Urgent requests — within 24 hours. These are vital-service problems: no heat, no water, no power, no gas, or a breach of building security.
- Everything else — within seven days. Pests, low heat and leaks are typical examples.
"Respond" means acknowledging the request and acting on it, and the log is your evidence. When a tenant calls 311 instead, the first thing an officer asks for is your record.
Evaluations, scores and the colour-coded sign
Every registered building is evaluated by the City at least every two years. Inspectors score roughly 50 categories, weighted by risk: high-risk items (fire safety, structural, security) count most, moderate items next, and cosmetic items least. Deductions are added for open orders and emergency orders.
Since June 15, 2026, owners must post a colour-coded sign near the main entrance:
| Sign | Score | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 85–100% | Meets most or all standards |
| Yellow | 70–84% | Needs improvement |
| Red | 0–69% | Needs significant improvement |
If the City tells you the colour has changed, the new sign must go up within 14 calendar days. You must also tell prospective tenants the building's rating before they sign a lease, and remind existing tenants once a year. In practice, the colour now affects leasing as much as compliance.
Audits and targeted engagement
The lowest-scoring buildings in the program are selected for an audit: a full inspection of common areas, door-to-door outreach to tenants and orders for every violation found, with the audit fees above charged to the owner. Targeted engagement is triggered when a building's reactive score drops 5% or more for two consecutive months, or a red sign stays up for two months.
Fines for individual offences are typically $400–$600 by ticket. On conviction in court, penalties can reach $100,000, or up to $10,000 a day for a continuing offence.
Temperature rules that sit alongside RentSafeTO
Where the landlord supplies heat, units must be kept at at least 21°C from October 1 to May 15. Where the landlord supplies air conditioning, it must run from June 1 to September 30 to keep units at no more than 26°C. From June 1, 2026, RentSafeTO buildings without cooling in every unit, but with an indoor amenity room, must keep at least one such room at or below 26°C over the same period, unless that would require construction.
A practical compliance calendar
- Every month — walk the common areas, check the pest log, review open service requests and confirm the notification board is current.
- Every quarter — update the capital plan against what has actually been spent; review the cleaning plan with staff or contractors.
- Every year — renew registration, refresh the electrical maintenance records, remind tenants of the building's colour rating.
- Before the evaluation — fix the high-risk items first: fire doors that don't latch, missing exit signs, broken intercoms, trip hazards, garbage room conditions.
- After the evaluation — read the category breakdown, schedule the deficiencies, and keep proof of completion for the next visit.
How we handle RentSafeTO for owners
For buildings under our apartment building management, we keep the plans, logs and notification board current, run monthly common-area inspections with photos, and track every service request against the 24-hour and seven-day clocks. Our compliance service covers registration renewals and evaluation follow-up, so the sign by your front door stays green.
General information, not legal advice. RentSafeTO fees and by-law requirements change; confirm current details with the City of Toronto before acting.