How to Handle Maintenance and Repairs in a Rental Property: 2026 Toronto Guide

Handling maintenance and repairs in a Toronto rental property — 2026 guide

Maintenance is where rental ownership stops being passive. A furnace that dies in January, a leak over a kitchen ceiling, a fridge that quits on a long weekend — in Ontario, almost all of it is legally the owner’s problem, and the clock starts the moment your tenant or guest reports it.

This guide covers how Toronto and GTA owners actually handle maintenance and repairs in 2026: what the law requires, how fast you need to move, what local trades charge, the preventive calendar that stops most emergencies before they happen, and how to budget so a bad month does not wipe out a good year.

TL;DR

  • Under Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act, the landlord — not the tenant — is responsible for keeping the unit in good repair and fit for habitation, even for problems that existed when the lease was signed.
  • Vital services cannot wait: heat, water, and electricity failures are emergencies. Toronto requires at least 21°C from October 1 to May 15, and provided air conditioning must run June 1 to September 30 at no more than 26°C.
  • New for 2026: since January 1, Ontario requires carbon monoxide alarms on every storey of a home with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace, or attached garage — not just outside bedrooms.
  • Realistic GTA costs in 2026: handyman $60–$120/hour, plumber $80–$170/hour, HVAC service call $100–$250. A furnace replacement runs $4,000–$7,500.
  • Budget a floor of about 1% of the property’s value per year for maintenance, plus a separate emergency reserve — and run a preventive calendar so you are replacing things on your schedule, not at 2 AM on a holiday.
  • Almost every repair visit needs 24 hours’ written notice of entry (8 AM–8 PM) for long-term tenants. Emergencies are the only no-notice exception.

On this page

Section 20 of Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act puts the duty squarely on the landlord: you must maintain the rental unit and the whole complex in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and in compliance with health, safety, housing, and maintenance standards. That duty applies even if the tenant knew about the problem before signing the lease — “as-is” does not exist for Ontario rentals.

In practice, the landlord’s list includes the structure and roof, plumbing and electrical systems, heating, any appliances included in the rent, common areas, and snow and ice on exterior common areas. The tenant’s list is short: keep the unit ordinarily clean, and repair damage they (or their guests) caused beyond normal wear and tear.

Ignore a repair long enough and it becomes a legal file, not just a work order. Tenants can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board on a T6 (maintenance) or T2 (tenant rights) application, and the Board can order the repair done, order a rent abatement, award compensation, or in serious cases end the tenancy. The cheapest version of every repair is the one you do when it is first reported.

One boundary worth knowing: you cannot contract out of this. A lease clause making the tenant responsible for, say, furnace repairs or snow clearing on common areas does not override the Act — which is why screening and setting expectations properly up front matters. Our guide on how to screen prospective tenants in Ontario covers what you can and cannot put in front of an applicant.

Triage: Emergencies, Urgent, and Routine

Every maintenance system that works starts with sorting. Not every request is a 2 AM callout, and treating them as if they were is how owners burn money. A practical three-tier triage used by GTA managers:

  • Emergency — act the same day, within hours. No heat in winter, no water, a burst or actively leaking pipe, sewage backup, a gas smell, an electrical hazard, a broken exterior lock or door, or a fridge failure with food spoiling. These are safety, habitability, or property-damage issues. Stop the damage first (shut-offs, temporary heat), then fix properly.
  • Urgent — within 24 to 72 hours. One appliance down, a slow drain, a running toilet, a minor leak that is contained, an AC failure during a heat wave in a unit where cooling is provided. The unit is livable; the problem will get worse or more expensive if it waits a week.
  • Routine — within 7 to 14 days, batched where possible. Dripping faucets, sticking doors, cosmetic drywall, caulking, a noisy fan. Batch routine items into one visit — one handyman call for five small jobs costs a fraction of five separate calls.

Whatever tier a request lands in, acknowledge it fast. Most tenant frustration — and most LTB filings — start with silence, not with the repair itself. A same-day reply with a realistic date beats a fast promise you miss.

Vital Services and Toronto’s Temperature Rules

Some services are legally “vital” in Ontario: heat, electricity, fuel, and hot and cold water. A landlord cannot withhold or interfere with them — not for unpaid rent, not for any other reason — except for brief, necessary interruptions to do repairs.

The temperature floors:

  • Ontario (O. Reg. 516/06): at least 20°C from September 1 to June 15.
  • Toronto (Property Standards, amended April 30, 2025): at least 21°C from October 1 to May 15. If the unit has air conditioning provided by the landlord, it must be operated from June 1 to September 30 so the indoor temperature does not exceed 26°C. Toronto does not require you to install AC — but if it is there and included, it has to work, in that window.

Practical implication: schedule your furnace service in September, not after the first cold snap when every HVAC company in the GTA is booked solid and charging emergency rates. A no-heat call in January is the single most common winter emergency for Toronto landlords, and most of them were preventable in the fall.

Safety Maintenance That Cannot Slip

Alarms. Ontario’s Fire Code requires a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. In a rental, providing and maintaining them is the landlord’s job. Smoke alarms must be replaced every 10 years — check the date stamped on the back; a working test beep does not reset an expired sensor.

The January 1, 2026 CO change. Carbon monoxide alarms used to be required only adjacent to sleeping areas. Under the updated Fire Code (O. Reg. 87/25), a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage now needs CO alarms on every storey as well as adjacent to each sleeping area. Units that were compliant in 2025 may not be compliant now — audit every unit in your portfolio this year, and keep a dated record of the check.

Electrical. In Ontario, only a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC) can legally be hired to do electrical work in a home. A general handyperson or renovation contractor is not permitted to do it, whatever they tell you, and the LEC is the one who files the ESA notification so the work is inspected. Unpermitted electrical work is a fire risk, an insurance problem, and a resale problem in one package.

Water. Know where every shut-off is — main, unit, and fixture — and label them. A $150 plumber visit for a contained leak becomes a five-figure insurance claim when nobody can find the shut-off. This is also where proper short-term rental insurance earns its premium: water damage is the most common big loss in both rental lanes.

The Preventive Maintenance Calendar

Reactive maintenance is the most expensive kind. A simple seasonal rhythm for a Toronto/GTA rental:

  • Every turnover / move-in: test smoke and CO alarms, check for leaks under every sink, run all appliances, photograph the unit’s condition, replace furnace filter if due.
  • Spring: AC service before the June 1 Toronto cooling window; check eavestroughs and downspouts after the thaw; test sump pump; inspect caulking and exterior seals.
  • Summer: deck/fence and exterior repairs while access is easy; pest inspection; dryer-vent cleaning (a lint-clogged vent is both a fire risk and a “dryer doesn’t work” complaint waiting to happen).
  • Fall: annual furnace service; winterize exterior taps; check weatherstripping; confirm snow-clearing arrangements before the first storm — in Toronto, snow and ice on private steps, ramps, driveways, and parking areas must be cleared within 24 hours after a snowfall ends, and sidewalks the City does not plow within 12 hours.
  • Winter: monitor for frozen pipes in cold snaps (units between guests or tenants are the risk); keep heat on in vacant units; check the roof after ice-dam weather.
  • Annually: full unit inspection on proper notice; alarm expiry-date check; review the reserve balance against the age of the furnace, roof, and appliances.

None of this is glamorous. All of it is cheaper than the emergency version of the same job — typically by a lot, because you are paying scheduled daytime rates instead of after-hours callout rates.

What Trades Cost in the GTA in 2026

Budget with real numbers, not guesses. Current Toronto ranges (HomeStars 2026):

  • Handyman: $60–$120/hour. Typical jobs: drywall repair and painting $150–$800; minor plumbing like a faucet swap or drain $120–$300.
  • Plumber: $80–$170/hour, with many simple jobs at flat fees of roughly $130–$520. Drain unclogging $130–$250; toilet repair $120–$300; faucet repair $100–$250.
  • HVAC: labour $75–$150/hour; a routine service call $100–$250; AC repair or maintenance $150–$1,500 depending on the part. Big-ticket replacements: furnace or boiler $4,000–$7,500; water heater $1,500–$3,500; central AC $3,000–$6,500.
  • Electrical: priced by an LEC per job, with the ESA notification included — if a quote seems to skip permits and licensing, it is not a cheaper quote, it is a different (and illegal) product.

Three habits keep these numbers down. First, build the roster before you need it: a plumber, an HVAC company, an LEC, and a reliable handyman, all with your units’ details on file. Second, send photos with every request — a photo of the leak, the model plate, or the error code turns a two-visit job into a one-visit job. Third, get the second quote only above a threshold (many owners use $500): below it, speed is worth more than the savings; above it, quotes diverge enough to matter.

Entry Rules, Communication, and Records

For long-term rentals, access is regulated. To enter a unit for repairs or a repair inspection, the landlord must give the tenant 24 hours’ written notice, enter only between 8 AM and 8 PM, and state the reason, the date, and the time of entry in the notice. With proper notice you may enter even if the tenant is not home. Without notice, entry is allowed only for a genuine emergency (fire, flood, gas leak) or with the tenant’s consent. For short-term guests there is no equivalent statute, but the same courtesy applies mid-stay: message first, enter when agreed, except for a true emergency.

The paperwork that protects you:

  • Log every request with the date reported, the tier you assigned, and the date closed. If a dispute ever reaches the LTB, the log is your evidence that you acted reasonably.
  • Keep invoices and photos together per unit per job — they support tax deductions for repairs (materials and labour are deductible; your own labour is not), insurance claims, and charge-backs where a guest or tenant caused the damage.
  • Close the loop in writing. “The plumber attended Tuesday; the trap was replaced; tell us if it drips again” takes thirty seconds and prevents the “they never fixed it” narrative.

Good records start before the tenancy does — condition photos at move-in are what separate a legitimate damage claim from an argument. Pair them with a clean screening process like the one in our guide to finding good tenants in Ontario.

Budgeting: Reserves That Survive a Bad Year

The Canadian rule of thumb is to set aside about 1% of the property’s value per year for maintenance — treat that as a floor, not a ceiling. Older properties and houses with more systems (furnace, roof, driveway, trees) realistically run toward 2–3% in heavy years; a newer condo, where the building’s reserve fund covers the structure and envelope, runs lower for the owner, whose exposure is mostly in-unit appliances, HVAC fan coils, and finishes.

On top of the annual allowance, hold a separate emergency reserve — enough to cover the single most likely big failure without touching your other money. For most GTA rentals that means being able to write a cheque for a furnace ($4,000–$7,500) in January without panic. If the reserve gets spent, rebuild it before you count any profit.

Finally, plan replacements by age, not by failure. Furnaces and water heaters have predictable lifespans; a water heater replaced on a Tuesday in June costs the standard $1,500–$3,500, while the same tank failing on a Sunday in February costs that plus emergency rates, water damage, and possibly a night of rehousing your tenant or guest. A one-page list per unit — system, year installed, expected replacement year — is the whole system.

Short-Term vs. Long-Term: What Changes

The legal floor differs — the RTA maintenance regime governs long-term tenancies, while short-term guests are protected mainly by platform policies and your own standards — but the operational standard for an Airbnb should be higher, not lower:

  • Every turnover is an inspection. Your cleaner is your early-warning system. A turnover checklist that includes running taps, flushing toilets, testing the stove and the alarms, and photographing anything worn or damaged catches small problems in the gap between guests — the only time you can fix them without disturbing anyone.
  • Mid-stay failures are review emergencies. A long-term tenant will accept “the part arrives Thursday.” A guest on a three-night stay will not — and will say so in the review that every future guest reads. For STR units, keep spares on site (shower head, toilet flapper, batteries, light bulbs, a portable heater and fan) so the common failures are fixed in minutes, not days. Our guide to what a short-term rental is in Toronto covers the regulatory side of running one.
  • Wear is faster. Budget STR finishes and small appliances on a shorter cycle — a unit that hosts 100+ stays a year ages like several years of ordinary tenancy.

When a Manager Earns Their Fee

Everything above is a system: triage, a trade roster, a preventive calendar, entry notices, logs, reserves. Owners who enjoy running that system should — it is very doable for one or two nearby units. It stops being doable when the units multiply, when you live out of town, or when the 2 AM no-heat call lands on you personally for the third time in a winter.

A full-service manager runs exactly this playbook: typically 8–12% of collected rent for long-term rentals and 18–25% for short-term rentals, where the fee also covers guest communication and turnovers. Judge the fee against what it replaces: your after-hours time, your emergency-rate premiums, and the rent abatement or lost bookings that slow repairs cause. Our breakdown of Airbnb management fees in Toronto shows what each pricing model includes.

At Home Again, maintenance coordination is built into management for Toronto and GTA owners — one point of contact, a vetted trade roster, photo-verified turnovers, and an owner update on every job. See how it works on our Toronto Airbnb management page, or reach out for a walkthrough of your unit’s maintenance history and what we would change first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is responsible for repairs in an Ontario rental — landlord or tenant?

The landlord. Under section 20 of the Residential Tenancies Act, the landlord must keep the unit in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and compliant with health, safety, housing, and maintenance standards — even for issues that existed when the lease was signed. Tenants are responsible for ordinary cleanliness and for repairing damage they or their guests cause beyond normal wear and tear.

How fast does a landlord have to fix a problem in Ontario?

The Act requires repairs within a reasonable time, and vital services — heat, water, electricity — are treated as urgent: restore them immediately. A practical standard used by GTA managers is emergencies the same day, urgent issues within 24–72 hours, and routine items within 7–14 days. Tenants who are ignored can file a T6 application at the Landlord and Tenant Board for orders, rent abatements, or compensation.

What temperature must a Toronto landlord maintain?

At least 21°C from October 1 to May 15 under Toronto’s Property Standards bylaw (the Ontario-wide floor is 20°C from September 1 to June 15). If the landlord provides air conditioning, it must be operated from June 1 to September 30 so the unit stays at or below 26°C. Landlords are not required to install air conditioning.

What changed about carbon monoxide alarms in Ontario in 2026?

As of January 1, 2026, a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage needs a working CO alarm on every storey, in addition to the existing requirement for alarms adjacent to each sleeping area. Landlords are responsible for providing and maintaining alarms in rental units, and smoke alarms must be replaced every 10 years.

How much should I budget for rental property maintenance?

Use about 1% of the property’s value per year as a floor (older houses often run 2–3% in heavy years; newer condos usually less for in-unit items, since the building covers structure). Keep a separate emergency reserve large enough to cover a furnace replacement — roughly $4,000–$7,500 in the GTA — without borrowing.

Can a handyman do electrical work in my Ontario rental?

No. Only a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC) can legally be hired to perform electrical work in an Ontario home, and the LEC files the required ESA notification for inspection. A handyman can handle most non-electrical jobs — drywall, paint, minor plumbing, doors — at roughly $60–$120 per hour in Toronto.