Managing your rental
What Ontario law asks of a residential landlord: repairs, heat and other vital services, entry notice, deposits, receipts, rent increases, smoke and CO alarms.
By the Tenant.ca teamUpdated 6 min read
These are the duties the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and Ontario's fire safety rules put on the landlord of a residential rental unit, whether you rent out a condo, a house, a basement apartment or a small building. If a property manager acts for you, the duties are still yours as the landlord; the manager carries them out for you.
This page is general information, not legal advice. It reflects the Residential Tenancies Act, the province's pages and the Landlord and Tenant Board's forms as checked on October 19, 2026. If a tenancy is already in dispute, speak to a lawyer or licensed paralegal.
The province says landlords must use Ontario's standard lease for new residential leases, and that if a landlord does not provide it within 21 days of the tenant's written request, the tenant can withhold one month's rent. Section 12 of the Act also requires a written tenancy agreement to set out the landlord's legal name and the address the tenant uses to give notices.
Section 20 makes the landlord responsible for providing and maintaining the rental unit and the building in a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and for complying with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. It applies even if the tenant knew about the problem before moving in. Your municipality's property standards by-law applies on top of the Act.
In practice: take repair requests in writing, answer them promptly, keep a record of what was done and when, and give written notice before you or a contractor go in.
Section 21 prohibits a landlord from withholding the reasonable supply of a vital service, care service or food the landlord is obliged to supply. The Act defines a vital service as hot or cold water, fuel, electricity, gas and, during the part of the year set by regulation, heat; the regulation sets that period as September 1 to June 15. Many municipalities also set a minimum indoor temperature in their own by-laws, so check yours.
The Act sets out when a landlord may go into a rented unit:
A landlord must not substantially interfere with the tenant's reasonable enjoyment of the unit (section 22); must not harass, obstruct, coerce, threaten or interfere with a tenant (section 23); and must not change the locks without giving the tenant replacement keys (section 24). The Landlord and Tenant Board's brochure adds that only the Court Enforcement Office, the Sheriff, can carry out an eviction order, and a landlord cannot do it personally.
The province notes that fines for offences under the Act can reach $100,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation.
The Act's rules on money the tenant pays you:
A landlord must give at least 90 days' written notice before increasing the rent (section 116), and at least 12 months must have passed since the last increase or since the tenancy began (section 119). The province sets the rent increase guideline at 1.9% for 2027; units first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 are among the exemptions the province lists.
The province's fire safety page says every home in Ontario must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas, and that it is the landlord's responsibility to make sure a rental property complies. Not complying can mean a $360 ticket or a fine of up to $50,000 for an individual or $100,000 for a corporation.
Carbon monoxide alarms are required in a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage, and since January 1, 2026 on every storey of a house, including storeys without bedrooms. The province says landlords must install and maintain the alarms, test them every year and when the battery is replaced, and give the tenant the alarm's maintenance instructions. Tenants must tell the landlord about any problem, and nobody may remove the batteries or tamper with an alarm.
Section 83 of the Condominium Act requires an owner who leases a unit to tell the condominium corporation within 10 days, with the tenant's name, the owner's address and a copy or summary of the lease, and to give the tenant the corporation's declaration, by-laws and rules. Under section 119, an occupier of a unit, including a tenant, must comply with the Act, the declaration, the by-laws and the rules.
Every item on this page is part of the work Tenant.ca does for the owners we manage for: written repair requests with estimates you approve before work starts, except emergencies; entry notices in writing; notices on the Board's forms; a record of every rent payment; and a file for each unit that you can see in your owner portal. You stay the landlord.
Management is $98 per month plus HST for a condo or apartment and $148 per month plus HST for a house, and the first 60 days of the agreement are a trial period.
