Can I Enter the Rental Property Without the Tenant’s Permission? 2026 Ontario Guide

Landlord entry in Ontario 2026 notice rules guide

Short answer: almost never. Owning the unit does not give an Ontario landlord a general right to walk in. The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) gives the tenant possession and reasonable enjoyment of the home, and it gives the landlord entry only on the Act’s terms — sections 26 and 27, explained in Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) Interpretation Guideline 19.

The 2023 version of this article listed three no-permission cases: emergency, abandonment, and a court order. That list was incomplete and, in two respects, misleading. Emergency is a real section 26 case. Belief that a tenant has abandoned the unit is not a section 26 right to enter and re-take the unit, and a court or Board order is not a general entry pass either. This 2026 guide corrects that, sets out the complete lists for entry with and without notice, and gives the notice wording, timing, and records that hold up if entry is ever challenged on a tenant’s Form T2 application.

This is general information about Ontario law and LTB practice, not legal advice for a specific file.

TL;DR

  • Default rule: no entry without the tenant’s consent at the time, a genuine emergency, or at least 24 hours’ written notice for a reason listed in section 27, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
  • Entry without written notice (section 26) is only: an emergency; the tenant consents at the time of entry; entry at the agreed times (or 8 a.m.–8 p.m.) to clean the unit where the tenancy agreement requires the landlord to clean it; a care-home check on a tenant’s condition where that check was agreed in writing; and, after a notice of termination has been given or the parties have agreed to end the tenancy, entry between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to show the unit to prospective tenants, after informing or making a reasonable effort to inform the tenant.
  • Entry with notice (section 27) needs written notice at least 24 hours before entry, stating the reason, the date, and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Listed reasons include repairs or work, a reasonable inspection for repair and standards compliance, a potential mortgagee or insurer viewing, a qualified engineer or architect inspection for a Condominium Act conversion, a potential purchaser viewing (landlord, or a broker or salesperson with the landlord’s written authorization), and any other reasonable reason set out in the tenancy agreement.
  • A tenant’s repair request does not, by itself, authorize entry without notice. For a requested repair you still need 24 hours’ written notice, or the tenant’s consent at the time you attend.
  • The notice must be specific: a reasonable time window, not a whole day. The Divisional Court in Wrona v. Toronto Community Housing Corporation found a nine-hour window for a smoke-detector inspection did not comply. Give as much detail about the work or inspection as you can.
  • A tenant may remain in the unit during a lawful entry, and a landlord may enter on proper notice even if the tenant is not home. A tenant may deny entry if the RTA requirements were not met, but may not deny a lawful entry simply because the time is inconvenient. The tenant must not interfere, and must provide access to the rooms where work will occur, including safely restraining pets.
  • Taking marketing photos of an occupied, furnished unit is not automatically a section 27 reason. Get the tenant’s consent for marketing photos, and limit any photos taken on a repair or inspection entry to that purpose.
  • Do not change the locks to get in or to keep a tenant out. Neither landlord nor tenant may alter a locking system without the other’s consent, and only the Sheriff (Court Enforcement Office) enforces an eviction order.
  • Belief the unit is abandoned is a separate process (section 79): a unit is not deemed abandoned if the tenant is not in arrears of rent. Document, try to contact the tenant, and apply to the Board for an order terminating the tenancy if you need certainty — do not treat a quiet unit as a free pass to enter, clear it, and re-rent it.
  • Illegal entry is Reason 1 on a tenant’s Form T2 application. Tenant applications cost $53 to file. The Board can order a rent abatement, damages and other relief, and an administrative fine, and can order the landlord not to breach the Act again.

Table of Contents

The short answer, and what the old article got wrong

There are three lawful doors into an occupied unit, and only three:

  1. No-notice entry under section 26, in the narrow cases listed in the next section.
  2. Notice entry under section 27, on at least 24 hours’ written notice, for a listed reason, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
  3. The tenant’s consent at the time of entry, which is itself one of the section 26 cases — consent given last week for a different visit is not consent at the time for this one.

Everything else is illegal entry, however good the intention. Arriving to “just check” a leak report, to measure for blinds, to show the unit to a friend who might buy it, or to see whether the tenant is really away, is not on either list unless you first give a valid section 27 notice for a reason the section actually covers, or the visit is a genuine emergency.

Two corrections to common landlord folklore, repeated in the old version of this article:

  • “I think they have abandoned it, so I can go in.” No section 26 case says that. Abandonment has its own section (79) and its own property rules (section 42), covered below. A silent unit, uncollected mail, or a neighbour’s report is a reason to investigate lawfully — contact attempts, a section 27 inspection notice if the facts support one, and a Board application if needed — not a key in the door.
  • “I have an order, so I can enter when I like.” An LTB eviction order authorizes the Sheriff to enforce it on its terms. It is not a standing right for the landlord to enter an occupied unit at will before enforcement, and it does not replace sections 26 and 27 for ordinary repairs, inspections, or showings.

The governing principle is in Guideline 19: the tenant has the right to possession and reasonable enjoyment, and the landlord has the right to enter in certain circumstances when the landlord follows the procedures in the Act. Both halves matter. See our landlord responsibilities guide for the duties entry serves — repair, maintenance, and compliance with health, safety, housing, and maintenance standards under section 20.

Entry without notice: the complete section 26 list

Section 26 and the LTB’s Guide to the RTA allow entry without written notice only in these cases:

  • Emergency. A genuine emergency such as a fire, an active flood or burst pipe, or a gas leak — a situation where immediate entry is needed to protect life or prevent serious damage. A routine repair, a suspected problem you want to confirm, a forgotten inspection, or a showing that happens to be convenient today is not an emergency. Enter only as far as the emergency requires, deal with the immediate risk, document what you found and did with dated photos and notes, and tell the tenant what happened as soon as you can.
  • Tenant consent at the time of entry. The tenant is there, you ask, and they agree to let you in then. If they say no, or say “not now,” that is the end of that visit unless you have already given a valid section 27 notice covering it. Consent at the time also covers the common repair situation: you knock, the tenant lets the contractor in, and the work proceeds — no 24-hour notice needed, because consent was given at the time.
  • Agreed cleaning. Where the tenancy agreement requires the landlord to clean the rental unit at regular intervals, the landlord may enter at the times specified in the agreement, or, if no times are specified, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. This case depends on the agreement actually requiring the landlord to clean — it is not a general housekeeping right.
  • Care-home condition check. In a care home, where the tenant has agreed in writing that the landlord may enter to check on their condition at regular intervals, entry on that agreed basis.
  • Showing to prospective tenants after the tenancy is ending. If the landlord and tenant have agreed the tenancy will be terminated, or one of them has given notice of termination to the other, the landlord may enter to show the unit to prospective tenants between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Before entering, the landlord must inform or make a reasonable effort to inform the tenant of the intention to enter. “Reasonable effort” depends on the facts — the Board expects real advance effort so the tenant can prepare, not a knock as the key turns.

That is the whole list. If your visit does not fit one of those cases, stop and use section 27.

Entry with notice: the complete section 27 list

Section 27 allows entry in accordance with written notice given to the tenant at least 24 hours before the time of entry, for these reasons:

  • To carry out a repair or replacement, or to do work in the unit.
  • To allow a potential mortgagee or insurer of the residential complex to view the unit.
  • To allow a person who holds a certificate of authorization under the Professional Engineers Act, a certificate of practice under the Architects Act, or another qualified person, to make a physical inspection to satisfy a requirement under subsection 9(4) of the Condominium Act, 1998.
  • To carry out an inspection of the unit, if the inspection is for the purpose of determining whether the unit is in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and compliant with health, safety, housing, and maintenance standards, consistent with the landlord’s section 20 duties, and it is reasonable to carry out the inspection. Entry to inspect a tenant-installed air conditioner for safe, secure installation, damage, and compliance with applicable standards is also a valid inspection reason under subsection 36.1(4).
  • For any other reasonable reason for entry set out in the tenancy agreement.
  • Under section 27(2), to allow a potential purchaser to view the unit — by the landlord, or, with the landlord’s written authorization, by a broker or salesperson registered under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002.

Note what is not in that list as a free-standing reason: entry “to check on the tenant,” entry to look for a lease breach you have no concrete basis to inspect for, entry to take marketing photographs, and entry because a contractor happened to be in the building. Some of those can be handled another way — consent at the time, a reasonable inspection notice tied to section 20 if the facts genuinely support one, or a tenancy-agreement reason that is actually in your agreement and is reasonable — but none of them lets you skip notice.

What makes a notice valid

A section 27 notice must be in writing, given at least 24 hours before the time of entry, and must set out:

  • the reason for entry, with as much detail as you can give about the repair, replacement, work, or inspection;
  • the date the landlord will enter; and
  • the time of entry, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Time window. State a specific time if you know it. If you do not control the attendee’s timing — a utility or cable company window is the Board’s own example — a reasonable window that mirrors theirs can be valid. What is reasonable depends on the work, its complexity and location, and how much the entry affects the tenant’s use of the unit. A whole-day or nine-hour window for a short inspection the landlord controls is the pattern that failed in Wrona. When in doubt, narrow the window and attend at the start of it.

How to give it. Give the notice by a method for giving notice or a document under section 191 of the RTA or Rule 3 of the Board’s Rules of Practice — for example, handing it to the tenant, handing it to an apparently adult person in the unit, placing it in the tenant’s mailbox or where mail is ordinarily delivered, sliding it under the unit door, or using another Rule 3 method the tenant has consented to where consent is required. A phone call is not written notice. A casual text or email may not count unless it is a permitted method on your facts — do not rely on it as your only method without checking. Keep a copy of the exact notice, and record the date, time, and method you used to give it. The 24 hours runs from when the notice counts as given under the service rules, not from when you printed it — if you mail a notice, allow for the deemed-service delay instead of counting 24 hours from the mailbox.

A wording example. Adapt the facts; do not copy the times:

“Written notice of entry under section 27, Residential Tenancies Act. Unit: [address and unit]. Date of entry: [weekday, date]. Time of entry: between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Reason: [licensed plumber] to repair the leaking trap under the kitchen sink reported on [date], and to inspect the cabinet and floor for water damage. Attending: [landlord / superintendent name] with [contractor name]. You may be present. Please provide access to the kitchen and safely restrain any pets during the window. Given to the tenant on [date] at [time] by [method].”

That paragraph does five jobs at once: it proves the 24 hours, the reason, the date, the 8-to-8 time, and who will actually be in the home. Most illegal-entry findings start with a notice that did none of them. Our Ontario lease agreement guide covers the Standard Form of Lease terms an entry clause cannot override.

Showings: two different regimes

Landlords mix these up constantly, and they run on opposite notice rules:

Showing to prospective tenants — no 24-hour written notice, but conditions. This is the section 26 case above. It is available only after the tenancy is ending — a notice of termination has been given by either side, or the parties have agreed to terminate. Entry must be between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and before entering you must inform or make a reasonable effort to inform the tenant. Group showings into set windows where you can; a stream of unannounced visits, even in a lawful end-of-tenancy period, can become substantial interference with reasonable enjoyment.

Showing to a potential purchaser — 24 hours’ written notice, every time. This is section 27(2). The landlord, or a registered broker or salesperson with the landlord’s written authorization, may enter on at least 24 hours’ written notice stating the reason, date, and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The tenant may remain in the unit during the showing and does not have to leave because the home is for sale. The Act sets no maximum number of showings, but the Board expects entries to be limited to what is reasonable — frequency is covered below.

Neither regime authorizes a lockbox free-for-all, entry outside 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or photography of the tenant’s belongings for the listing without consent — see the photos section.

Repairs and inspections: the traps

  • The repair-request trap. Guideline 19 states it directly: a landlord may not enter without notice to perform repairs even where the tenant has requested the repairs, unless the landlord obtains the tenant’s consent at the time the landlord goes to the unit to make the repairs. A work order in your inbox is not consent at the door. Either give section 27 notice, or knock, ask, and proceed only if the tenant agrees then.
  • Inspections must be reasonable, and for a listed purpose. An inspection notice must be tied to determining repair, fitness, or standards compliance, and it must be reasonable to carry it out on those facts — a specific concern, a scheduled annual safety check (smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, for example), or follow-up on a reported problem. “General inspection” every few weeks, with no purpose a notice can state honestly, is how a lawful tool becomes harassment.
  • Frequency. Guideline 19 directs landlords to make reasonable efforts to limit entries for repairs, work, and inspections to those actually necessary. If the Board finds unnecessary or unreasonable entries, it may find the landlord interfered with or harassed the tenant, or substantially interfered with the tenant’s reasonable enjoyment. Batch work: one noticed entry that completes the repair, the alarm test, and the inspection beats three noticed entries in a week.
  • Finish what you entered for. A notice for a plumbing repair does not authorize a tour of bedrooms, opening cupboards unrelated to the work, or a conversation about ending the tenancy at the door. Stay in scope, finish, leave, and record the visit.

For the repair duties themselves — what must be fixed, how fast vital services must be restored, and the Toronto property-standards layer — see our guides to tenant complaints and disputes and landlord responsibilities, linked above.

Who may enter, and the tenant’s duties

The RTA gives the landlord the right of entry. A landlord’s agent — a superintendent, a property manager, or a person hired by the landlord — may also enter on the landlord’s behalf. Guideline 19 adds a practical rule: where someone other than the landlord or superintendent has been hired to do work in the unit, the landlord or superintendent should attend with that person to permit entry. Do not hand a unit key to an unaccompanied contractor on the strength of a notice the tenant has never connected to that stranger, and never give a contractor a key to keep.

The tenant’s side of a lawful entry, from Guideline 19:

  • The tenant may remain in the unit while the landlord exercises the right of entry.
  • The landlord’s right of entry can be exercised if the tenant is not in the unit at the time of entry, provided proper notice was given.
  • The tenant has the right to deny entry if the landlord has not met the RTA requirements for entry.
  • The tenant does not have the right to deny entry simply because the time is not convenient.
  • The tenant must not interfere with the landlord’s right of entry or with the landlord and its agents, and must take whatever steps are necessary to provide access to rooms where the work is to occur, including safely restraining pets.

If a tenant denies a lawful entry, do not force the door, argue on the doorstep, or return later the same day without notice. Leave, record the denial with the date and time and who was present, reschedule with a fresh valid notice if the work is still needed, and take advice if denials repeat — repeated denial of lawful entry is a tenant-conduct problem the Board can address, while a forced entry is a landlord problem the Board will address faster. See our eviction guide for how conduct files are actually built — entry is evidence in them, in both directions.

Photos and videos inside an occupied unit

Entry and photography are different permissions. A lawful entry to repair or inspect does not automatically authorize photographing the tenant’s home and belongings for other purposes:

  • For the entry’s own purpose: dated photos of the repair area, a leak, damage, or an alarm test, taken to document that work, are part of doing the work. Keep the scope to the area and the issue.
  • For marketing a sale or a new tenancy: photographing a furnished, occupied unit and posting the images online raises serious privacy concerns, and Ontario decisions have treated marketing photography without the tenant’s consent, or a clear tenancy-agreement basis, as outside the landlord’s entry rights — and not a ground to evict a tenant who refuses it. Get written consent, offer to photograph only after the unit is vacant, or use lawful photos from before the tenancy.
  • For evidence: if condition or damage will be in issue at the Board, contemporaneous, dated photos taken on a lawful entry, limited to the condition in issue, are the record to keep — not a walk-through video of the whole home.

The same restraint applies to managers and agents: a photo report is a standard part of a repair or inspection visit, scoped to the work — not a licence to document how a tenant lives.

Locks: never a way in, never a way out

Two sections close the lock shortcuts:

  • Section 24: a landlord shall not alter the locking system on a door giving entry to a unit or the complex during a tenancy without giving the tenant replacement keys. In practice, do not change a lock during a tenancy without the tenant’s agreement and replacement keys in the tenant’s hand at the time.
  • Section 35: a tenant shall not alter the locking system on a door giving entry to a unit during the tenancy without the landlord’s consent. If a tenant does, the landlord’s route is a Board application for keys or the reasonable cost of restoring the lock — not self-help in reverse.

And the rule behind both: a landlord shall not recover possession of a unit unless the tenant has vacated or abandoned it, or a Board order evicting the tenant has authorized possession (section 39), and only the Sheriff enforces an eviction order. Changing locks to enter for a viewing, to “secure” a unit you think is empty, or to pressure a tenant who is behind on rent converts a manageable file into an illegal-entry and illegal-lockout file. Our landlord liability guide covers the wider cost of self-help, and our tenant move-out guide covers the lawful end of a tenancy, including left-behind property.

If you think the tenant has abandoned the unit

Treat abandonment as a conclusion you may need to prove, not a feeling you act on. The LTB’s guidance on property left behind states the threshold plainly: a rental unit is not deemed to be abandoned if the tenant is not in arrears of rent. The Board looks at the whole picture — arrears, contact attempts and responses, whether furniture and personal effects are gone, whether utilities were disconnected, and whether the tenant was seen moving out — and a landlord who guesses wrong and re-rents the unit can face a tenant application, damages, and a tenancy that was never lawfully ended.

A disciplined sequence:

  1. Document from outside the unit. Dates of missed rent, returned mail, messages sent and any replies, and what can be seen without entering. Note who told you what, and when.
  2. Try to contact the tenant by every channel in the lease file, and keep the attempts. Ask a direct question — have you vacated, and do you intend to abandon the unit — and keep any answer.
  3. Use a lawful entry if you need to see inside. If the facts support a reasonable section 27 inspection (for example, concern about water, heat, or the condition of a unit you have concrete reason to believe is empty), give a valid notice for that inspection and attend with a witness. A genuine emergency — water running, a smell of gas — is a section 26 entry on its own facts.
  4. Apply if you need certainty. Under section 79, a landlord who believes a tenant has abandoned a unit may apply to the Board for an order terminating the tenancy. That order is the clean basis to re-take and re-rent.
  5. Handle property under section 42, not by dumpster. Before selling, keeping, or disposing of property left in an abandoned unit, you must either obtain the Board order terminating the tenancy under section 79, or give notice of your intention to dispose of the property to the tenant and to the Board. Unsafe or unhygienic items may be disposed of immediately. For other items, wait 30 days after the order or the notice; if the tenant comes forward in that period to claim their property, you must allow them to retrieve it, and you may first require payment of rent owing and your reasonable out-of-pocket moving and storage expenses.

Do not skip steps because the unit “looks empty.” The cost of the order or the notice is small next to the cost of disposing of a tenant’s belongings in a tenancy the Board later finds was still alive. Our subleasing and roommates guide covers the related trap — a person left behind after the tenant leaves is an unauthorized occupant, with a 60-day Form A2 clock that runs from the day you discover them.

If entry was illegal, or a tenant says it was

Illegal entry is Reason 1 on Form T2, Application About Tenant Rights: “The landlord, the landlord’s agent or the superintendent entered my rental unit illegally.” A tenant files within one year of the conduct, and tenant applications cost $53 to file. On a T2 the Board can, among other remedies, order that the landlord not breach the Act again, order a rent abatement, order compensation for damage to or destruction of property and for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, and impose an administrative fine. Repeated or deliberate entries, entries paired with lock changes or service interference, and entries a landlord defends with notices that plainly do not comply are treated more seriously than a single documented mistake that is acknowledged and not repeated — but “only once, with good intentions” is still a breach if the notice was not valid.

If you discover an entry by your agent, superintendent, contractor, or your own staff did not comply:

  • Stop further entries until a valid notice is in place, and retrieve any keys held by contractors.
  • Write down what actually happened — date, time, who entered, why, what notice existed — while it is fresh, and keep the notice, or the absence of one, in the file. Do not backdate a notice.
  • Tell the tenant, in writing, what happened and what you have changed so it does not recur. An early, factual apology and a corrected process are worth more at a hearing than a denial the records contradict.
  • Fix the system, not just the file: a notice template that contains reason, date, and a narrow time window; a rule that no contractor attends unaccompanied; and a log for every entry.

Tenants reading this guide: document each entry you say was illegal with the date, time, who entered, and any notice you received or did not receive, keep the notices themselves, and put your objection in writing at the time. That record, not a later recollection, is what a T2 is decided on.

Worked example: timing a lawful repair entry

All dates below are illustrative. The arithmetic is the point — change the dates and the same counting applies.

On Monday, October 26, 2026, your Toronto tenant reports a slow leak under the bathroom sink by email at 9:00 a.m. It is not an emergency: no active flooding, the tenant has shut the supply valve, and a bowl is catching the drip. Toronto average asking rent in September 2026 was $2,554 (Rentals.ca and Urbanation), and a one-bedroom averaged $2,228 — a unit at that rent is a home the tenant is entitled to possess undisturbed except on the Act’s terms, and a tenancy worth managing carefully.

The lawful sequence is short. On Monday at 10:30 a.m. you hand the tenant a written section 27 notice, and keep a copy with the delivery time noted: entry on Wednesday, October 28, between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, by you with a named plumber, to repair the bathroom sink trap reported that morning and to inspect the vanity and floor for water damage. That notice is given more than 24 hours before the window opens, states a reason with detail, a date, and a two-hour window inside 8 a.m.–8 p.m. On Wednesday the tenant may stay or go out; either way you may enter at 10 a.m., do the repair and the scoped inspection, photograph the trap and the floor, lock up, and log the visit the same day.

Now price the shortcuts. Attending Monday afternoon because “the tenant asked for the repair” would be an entry without notice and without consent at the time, unless the tenant agrees when you knock — the exact trap Guideline 19 names. Serving a notice Monday for “Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., general inspection” would fail twice: a window the Board’s case law treats as too broad for work the landlord controls, and a reason too vague to show a reasonable, listed purpose. Either shortcut hands the tenant a $53 T2 filing with your own notice — or the absence of one — as the main exhibit, against a lawful process that cost one written paragraph and a day’s patience.

Condos and buildings: the second set of rules

In a Toronto condo, the RTA is not the only rulebook. The corporation’s declaration, bylaws, and rules can require notice to building management for contractor visits, elevator booking for work, registered occupants, and compliance with building access hours that are narrower than 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in practice. A valid RTA notice does not waive a building rule, and a building concierge’s permission does not waive the RTA notice. Give both: serve the tenant under sections 26–27, and clear the visit with building management under the corporation’s rules, with the contractor’s insurance and contact details the building asks for.

The same layering applies in purpose-built rentals: a superintendent’s master key is a tool for lawful entries, not a separate right of entry. Every master-key entry still needs a section 26 case or a section 27 notice behind it, and a log in the building’s records.

Short-term guests are a different track

A guest staying for fewer than 28 consecutive nights in Toronto is generally not an RTA tenant — section 5(a) exempts accommodation occupied for a travelling or vacationing purpose — so sections 26 and 27 do not govern a host’s entry in the same way. That does not make entry free-form. The booking is a contract: enter during a stay only for a genuine emergency, for a service the guest agreed to (a scheduled mid-stay clean is the common example), or with the guest’s consent at the time. Knocking and entering to inspect, photograph, or show the unit during a paid stay is a platform, review, and refund problem even where it is not an RTA problem.

The Toronto short-term rules themselves are unchanged in structure for 2026: registration is $390 per year, only a principal residence may be registered, entire-unit rentals are capped at 180 nights per calendar year, the Municipal Accommodation Tax is 6% since August 1, 2026, plus 13% HST, and Airbnb’s host-only service fee is 15.5% on the subtotal including the cleaning fee. Turnover entry after checkout — cleaning, inspection, and photo report — is entry into a vacant unit you operate, which is why the photo report belongs at checkout, not during the stay. Start with our Toronto licensing guide, our Toronto condo income estimate, and our Toronto Airbnb management page for the operating rules.

What never to do

  • Never enter on a phone call, a voicemail, or “I told them last week.” Written notice, at least 24 hours, or consent at the time — no third option.
  • Never call a routine visit an emergency to skip notice. If it was not fire, active water, gas, or an immediate risk to life or serious damage, the Board will not treat it as one either.
  • Never use a nine-hour or all-day window for work you control, and never write “general inspection” when the real purpose can and should be stated.
  • Never send a contractor in alone with a key, and never let a contractor keep a key after the visit.
  • Never take marketing photos of a furnished, occupied unit without the tenant’s consent, and never widen a repair photo set into a walk-through of the home.
  • Never change the locks, remove a door, or shut off a service to get access or to get a tenant out. Only the Sheriff enforces an eviction order.
  • Never treat a quiet unit as abandoned and re-rent it on that basis alone — especially if rent is not in arrears. Use the section 79 process.
  • Never backdate a notice, and never create an entry log after the fact. In entry disputes, the paper is the case.

When a manager helps

Entry files are lost on paper, not on principles: a notice given 20 hours before entry instead of 24, a window written as a full day, a contractor who attended alone, a showing run under the purchaser rules when the tenancy-ending rules applied, or the reverse. A manager’s value is a system that makes the lawful path the default — a notice template with reason, date, and a narrow window built in; a service log that records how and when each notice was given; a rule that the manager or superintendent attends with every contractor; grouped showings in set windows; and an entry log kept with the tenancy file.

Typical long-term management in the GTA runs 8% to 12% of rent, plus a placement fee of roughly 50% to 100% of one month’s rent when a new tenant is placed. Home Again’s full-service short-term management is 15%, for owners operating lawfully in their own principal residence. Neither fee matters as much as the habit: every entry, noticed, logged, and in scope, every time. Our steps to renting out your property sets out the starting system a tenancy should begin with, before the first repair visit is ever needed.

Frequently asked questions

Can I enter the rental property without the tenant’s permission in Ontario?
Only in the narrow section 26 cases: a genuine emergency, the tenant’s consent at the time of entry, entry at the agreed times to clean the unit where the tenancy agreement requires the landlord to clean it, an agreed care-home condition check, or entry between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to show the unit to prospective tenants after a notice of termination has been given or the parties have agreed to end the tenancy, after informing or making a reasonable effort to inform the tenant. Every other entry needs at least 24 hours’ written notice under section 27, or it is illegal entry.

How much notice does an Ontario landlord need to give before entering?
At least 24 hours’ written notice for a section 27 entry. The notice must state the reason for entry, the date, and a time of entry between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with as much detail about the work or inspection as possible and a reasonable time window. The 24 hours runs from when the notice counts as given under section 191 of the RTA or Rule 3 of the Board’s Rules — mailing a notice does not start the clock at the mailbox.

My tenant asked for a repair. Can I just go in and fix it?
Not without notice on the strength of the request alone. The LTB’s Guideline 19 says a landlord may not enter without notice to perform repairs even where the tenant has requested them, unless the landlord obtains the tenant’s consent at the time of entry. Either give a valid 24-hour written notice, or knock, ask, and enter only if the tenant agrees then — or if the problem is a genuine emergency.

Can my tenant refuse entry if I gave proper notice?
A tenant may deny entry if the landlord has not met the RTA requirements, but may not deny a lawful entry simply because the time is inconvenient. The tenant may remain in the unit during the entry, must not interfere with the landlord or its agents, and must provide access to the rooms where work will occur, including safely restraining pets. If a tenant denies a lawful entry, do not force it — leave, record the denial, and reschedule on a fresh notice.

Can I enter if I think my tenant has abandoned the unit?
Not on that belief alone. A unit is not deemed abandoned if the tenant is not in arrears of rent, and abandonment is decided on the whole picture. Document from outside, try to contact the tenant, use a lawful inspection notice or a genuine emergency entry if the facts support one, and apply to the Board under section 79 for an order terminating the tenancy if you need certainty. Property left behind is handled under section 42: an order, or notice to the tenant and the Board, then a 30-day wait before disposal, except for unsafe or unhygienic items, which may be disposed of immediately.

What happens if a landlord enters illegally in Ontario?
The tenant can file Form T2, Application About Tenant Rights, Reason 1 — illegal entry by the landlord, the landlord’s agent, or the superintendent — within one year. Tenant applications cost $53 to file. The Board can order the landlord not to breach the Act again, order a rent abatement and compensation for property damage and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, and impose an administrative fine.