Plain-English guides for Ontario landlords.
Practical, up-to-date notes on the rules and decisions that matter most when you rent out property in Ontario.
Ontario landlord law
Ontario's 2026 rent increase guideline, explained.
For 2026, Ontario's rent increase guideline is 2.1%. Here's who it applies to, who's exempt, and how to issue an increase that will actually hold up.
Read the guide 7 min readHow to screen tenants in Ontario — legally.
Good screening is the single best predictor of a smooth tenancy. In Ontario it also has firm legal limits. Here's how to do both well.
Read the guide 5 min readThe N4 notice for unpaid rent, done right.
The N4 is the most common notice at the Landlord and Tenant Board, and one of the easiest to get wrong. The timeline got shorter on September 21, 2026. Here is how it works now.
Read the guide 4 min readThe N12 notice: taking a unit back, lawfully.
An N12 lets an owner take back a unit for themselves, close family, a caregiver or a buyer. It's also the notice the Landlord and Tenant Board examines most closely. Here are the rules as of September 2026.
Read the guide 5 min readN13 notices and renovations: the law and the by-laws.
An N13 is for work that genuinely needs the unit empty. Provincial law sets the notice and compensation; Toronto and Hamilton now add a municipal licence on top. Here's how the layers fit together.
Read the guide 5 min readThe Landlord and Tenant Board, step by step.
Most Landlord and Tenant Board cases are won or lost on paperwork long before the hearing. Here is the full path from notice to Sheriff, with the 2026 rule changes included.
Read the guide 4 min readOntario's standard lease, section by section.
The standard lease isn't optional for most residential tenancies. The part landlords actually control — the additional terms in section 15 — is where most Ontario leases go wrong.
Read the guide 4 min readRent deposits and interest: what Ontario allows.
Ontario allows exactly two deposits: last month's rent and a refundable key deposit. Damage, pet and security deposits are off the table. Here's how to handle both correctly — including the interest most landlords forget.
Read the guide 4 min readEntering a rental unit: notice, hours, exceptions.
You own the unit, but it's the tenant's home. The Residential Tenancies Act sets out exactly when you can go in — and getting it wrong can turn a routine repair into an application against you.
Read the guide 4 min readThe N5 notice: a warning with consequences.
The N5 is built as a two-strike system. The first notice gives the tenant a week to fix the problem. A second one within six months can't be undone. Here's how to use it properly.
Read the guide 4 min readAbove-guideline rent increases: recovering capital work.
A new roof, boiler or elevator modernization can cost more than years of guideline increases bring in. An above-guideline increase lets owners of rent-controlled buildings recover part of it — if the work and the paperwork qualify.
Read the guide 5 min readCash for keys: a clean exit, on paper.
Sometimes the fastest lawful way to get a unit back is to pay the tenant to leave. In Ontario that deal lives on Form N11 — and it only holds if it's genuinely voluntary and properly documented.
Read the guideToronto & municipal rules
RentSafeTO for apartment owners, without the guesswork.
If you own a Toronto rental building with three or more storeys and ten or more units, RentSafeTO sets your maintenance baseline. Here is what the program asks of owners in 2026, and how to stay well clear of an audit.
Read the guide 5 min readToronto's Vacant Home Tax: declare every year, even when rented.
Toronto's Vacant Home Tax is 3% of a property's assessed value. Most landlords will never owe it, but almost every residential owner has to declare every year. Missing the declaration is the expensive mistake.
Read the guide 5 min readToronto's rental renovation licence: what the renoviction by-law requires.
Since July 31, 2025, a Toronto landlord who serves an N13 to renovate needs a licence from the City as well. The process has hard deadlines and real compensation costs, so plan for both before you serve the notice.
Read the guide 5 min readMulti-tenant houses in Toronto: legal everywhere, licensed always.
Since March 31, 2024, rooming houses are permitted across Toronto, but every operator needs a licence. Here's what counts as a multi-tenant house, what the licence takes, and what it costs to get it wrong.
Read the guide 4 min readMaking a basement apartment legal in Ontario: permits, fire separation, exits.
Thousands of GTA basement suites were built without permits. Making one legal comes down to three things: separation between the units, a safe way out, and alarms that wake everyone. Here's how the process works.
Read the guide 5 min readAdditional residential units: three homes where there was one.
Since Bill 23, most serviced residential lots in Ontario can hold up to three homes as of right. For owners of houses and small plexes, that's one of the biggest changes to rental supply in a generation. Here's what the law allows, and where the limits are.
Read the guide 5 min readGarden and laneway suites in Toronto: the rules after 2025.
A garden or laneway suite turns a backyard into a rental home. Toronto updated the rules for both in July 2025, with taller limits, shorter separation and new caps on floor area. Here's what you can build and what it takes to rent it.
Read the guide 5 min readToronto's heat and cooling rules: new dates, same 21°C.
Toronto changed the dates of its heat season in 2025. If you supply heat, the minimum is still 21°C, but the dates and the summer rules are different from what many owners remember. Here's the current picture.
Read the guide 4 min readShort-term rentals in Toronto: principal residence only.
Toronto allows short-term rentals only in the host's own home. For an investor with a second condo or a basement suite, that usually settles the question. Here are the rules, the costs, and why most investment properties belong on a long-term lease.
Read the guide 5 min readOntario Fire Code duties for landlords: alarms, plans and records.
Under the Ontario Fire Code, the landlord counts as the 'owner' for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in a rental unit. In larger buildings the duties grow into a full fire safety program. Here's what applies, and the records that prove you did it.
Read the guideApartment buildings
Capital planning for apartment buildings: spend before it breaks.
Roofs, boilers, elevators and garages don't fail on a schedule, but they fail on a pattern. A capital plan turns that pattern into a budget, so you fund the work before it becomes an emergency.
Read the guide 5 min readSuperintendent or property manager? You usually need both.
A superintendent keeps the building running day to day. A property manager runs the building as a business. Here's how the roles divide in Ontario — and the legal details owners often miss with live-in supers.
Read the guide 5 min readFire safety in apartment buildings: the inspection calendar.
Most Fire Code orders in apartment buildings aren't about dramatic failures. They're about missed checks and missing records. Here's the inspection calendar an Ontario building owner needs to run.
Read the guide 5 min readElevators in Ontario rental buildings: licences, contracts, outages.
In a twelve-storey building, a dead elevator is not an inconvenience — it's a crisis for the tenant on the eleventh floor with a walker. Here's how elevator compliance, contracts and modernization work in Ontario.
Read the guide 5 min readReducing vacancy: fewer dark days between tenants.
Every vacant day is rent you never get back. In a rent-controlled building, a long-term tenant is also an asset. Here's how to cut the days between tenancies — and reduce how often you have them.
Read the guide 5 min readBuying an apartment building in Ontario: what to check first.
The rent roll tells you what the building earns on paper. Due diligence tells you whether it's true, whether it's legal and what it will cost to keep running. Here's what to check before you firm up.
Read the guide 5 min readSub-metering in Ontario rental buildings: the rules first.
Sub-metering gives tenants a reason to save energy and takes a volatile cost off the owner's books. In Ontario, it also comes with strict rules for existing tenants. Here's how it works.
Read the guide 5 min readPest control in apartment buildings: manage the building, not the suite.
In a multi-residential building, pests don't respect suite boundaries. Treating one unit at a time, only when someone complains, is the most expensive way to fail. Here's what works.
Read the guide 5 min readEnergy efficiency in apartment buildings: report, retrofit, repeat.
Energy is one of the biggest controllable costs in an apartment building, and Toronto now wants to see the numbers. Here's what you must report, and which retrofits are usually worth doing.
Read the guide 5 min readTenant communication in apartment buildings: say it before they ask.
Most tenant frustration isn't about the problem itself. It's about not knowing what's happening. A clear communication system cuts complaints, City calls and Board applications.
Read the guideCommercial property
Gross, net or triple-net: who pays for what.
The lease type decides who carries rising taxes, insurance and maintenance for the next five or ten years. Here's how the common Ontario structures actually split the costs — and where the disputes start.
Read the guide 5 min readCAM reconciliation, done properly.
Every net lease promises the tenant a fair share of real costs. The year-end reconciliation is where that promise is tested — and where owners either recover what they spent or quietly lose it.
Read the guide 5 min readWhen a commercial tenant stops paying: your options in Ontario.
Commercial tenancies in Ontario don't go to the Landlord and Tenant Board. The remedies are faster and more powerful than in residential — and much easier to get wrong. Here's how they fit together.
Read the guide 4 min readRunning a neighbourhood plaza: the parts that decide your return.
A strip plaza looks simple: one roof, a parking lot, eight shops. In practice the return depends on tenant mix, winter control, signs and how fast you fill a vacancy. Here's what experienced owners focus on.
Read the guide 5 min readShops downstairs, tenants upstairs: two rulebooks, one building.
A main-street building with a shop at grade and apartments above is one of the most common investment properties in Toronto. It's also two different legal businesses under one roof. Here's how to run both without one damaging the other.
Read the guideOwners & tax
Property management fees in Ontario: what you're actually paying for.
Fees vary between companies, but the structures are fairly standard. Here's how pricing usually works in Ontario — and the questions that separate a good agreement from a bad one.
Read the guide 5 min readRental income and tax: what Canadian landlords report.
The tax side of a rental property is mostly about records and two judgment calls: is this repair current or capital, and should I claim CCA this year? Here's how the CRA's framework works for individual landlords.
Read the guide 4 min readOwning Toronto rental property from outside Canada.
If you live outside Canada and rent out property here, someone has to withhold tax from every rent payment. Usually that's your property manager. Here's how the system works — and how to avoid paying tax on gross rent.
Read the guide 4 min readHST on commercial rent: what Ontario landlords need to know.
Commercial rent is a taxable supply; long-term residential rent isn't. Owners of plazas, offices and mixed-use buildings need to know which side each dollar falls on — and when registration becomes mandatory.
Read the guide 4 min readChoosing a property manager in Toronto: what to ask before you sign.
A property manager holds your keys, your tenants' deposits and your rent. Choosing one deserves the same care as choosing a tenant. Here's a practical checklist for Toronto owners.
Read the guide 4 min readManage it yourself or hire a manager? An honest answer.
Plenty of owners manage their own rentals well. Others lose more to one bad tenancy than a manager would have cost in years. The difference is rarely intelligence — it's time, distance, scale and appetite for paperwork.
Read the guideHand us the keys.
Tell us about your property. We'll walk it, price it, and send a plain-language proposal — no obligation.