Managing your rental
Utilities in Ontario rentals: who pays hydro, heat and water?
Who pays electricity, heat and water in an Ontario rental, what the standard lease has to say, and the rules for changing it during a tenancy.
By the Tenant.ca teamUpdated 3 min read
In this guide5 parts
The short answer
Whatever the lease says. Section 6 of Ontario's standard lease records whether electricity, heat and water are the landlord's or the tenant's, and whether gas, air conditioning, extra storage, on-site laundry and guest parking are included in the rent. If the tenant is responsible for a utility, the lease has to give the details of the arrangement, for example that the tenant opens an account with the provider and pays it, or pays a share of the cost.
When the landlord supplies them
Hot and cold water, fuel, electricity, gas and, in the heating season, heat are vital services under the Residential Tenancies Act. A landlord who is obliged by the lease to supply one can't withhold it or deliberately interfere with it, even if the tenant is behind on rent (section 21). Where the landlord supplies the heat, minimum temperatures apply from September 1 to June 15.
Changing who pays during a tenancy
A landlord can't move a utility onto the tenant partway through a tenancy on their own. The Act sets out how it can change:
- To stop providing heat, electricity, water or sewage services, or another service the regulation lists, both of you have to agree, and the rent goes down by at least the actual cost or a reasonable value for it (section 125; O. Reg. 516/06, section 16)
- To stop supplying electricity once a meter or suite meter is installed, the landlord needs the tenant's written consent on the Board's form, adequate notice, and a rent reduction under the rules (section 137)
- To add a listed service, such as an air conditioner and its electricity, the rent can go up by agreement, by the actual cost or a reasonable value (section 123)
What to settle in the lease
Before the lease is signed, write down:
- Each utility and who pays it: electricity, heat, water, gas, hot water tank rental if there is one
- Whose name each account is in, and the date the tenant's accounts start
- How a shared cost is split, if the tenant pays a portion, and how they'll see the bills
- What's included in the rent: air conditioning, laundry, storage, parking
Where this fits
Tenant.ca prepares the Ontario Standard Lease as part of tenant placement.
This page is general information, not legal advice. It reflects the Residential Tenancies Act and O. Reg. 516/06 on e-Laws and the province's guide to the standard lease as read on November 11, 2026.