What Are My Responsibilities as a Landlord? 2026 Ontario Guide

Landlord responsibilities in Ontario in 2026 — landlord guide

TL;DR — Key Points

  • Your core duty never pauses: keep the unit in good repair and fit to live in, and comply with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards — even if the tenant knew about the problem when they signed.
  • Never withhold a vital service you are responsible for: heat, hot and cold water, electricity and fuel. In Toronto that means at least 21°C from October 1 to May 15 (provincial floor: 20°C from September 1 to June 15), and provided air conditioning run June 1 to September 30 to no more than 26°C.
  • Safety is yours: working smoke alarms, and — since January 1, 2026 — carbon monoxide alarms next to each sleeping area and on every storey in homes with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace or attached garage.
  • Respect the unit as the tenant’s home: at least 24 hours’ written notice to enter, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., no harassment, no lock change without a new key, and no interference with reasonable enjoyment.
  • Money rules are narrow: the Standard Form of Lease, only a last month’s rent deposit plus a key deposit at actual cost, interest on the deposit at 2.1% for 2026, free rent receipts on request, and rent increases only on an N1, 90 days out, once a year, capped at 2.1% in 2026 for most rent-controlled units.
  • Only the Landlord and Tenant Board can end a tenancy against a tenant’s will, and only the Sheriff can enforce it. Use current forms — the Board replaced the main N and L forms on September 21, 2026, and old versions are not accepted after November 30, 2026.

Table of Contents

“Landlord” in Ontario is not just owning the unit and collecting rent. It is a set of duties in the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) that run for the whole tenancy — repair, safety, services, privacy, paperwork and process — whether your lease mentions them or not, and whether you manage the unit yourself or hire someone. A clause that tries to move one of those duties onto the tenant is void. This guide lists what you actually owe in 2026, in the order problems usually show up.

Three things set up everything else:

  • The RTA governs most residential tenancies, and the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) decides disputes. Stays under 28 consecutive nights in Toronto are short-term rentals, not RTA tenancies — see the short-term section at the end.
  • The Ontario Standard Form of Lease (Form 2229E) is mandatory for most tenancies entered into since April 30, 2018. Additional terms can be added, but they cannot take away RTA rights. Give the tenant a signed copy within 21 days. If a tenant demands the standard lease in writing and you do not provide it within 21 days, the tenant may withhold one month’s rent — and keep it if you still have not provided it 30 days after the withholding.
  • Your legal name and an address for service must be in the lease, and before or at the start of the tenancy you must give the tenant the Board’s information on landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities, and how to contact the Board. A tenant who cannot reach you, or does not know the process, becomes a Board file faster.

The full lease rules are in how to write a lease agreement in Ontario and the start-to-finish sequence is in the steps to renting out your property.

1. Provide a unit fit to live in

Your largest duty is repair. You must keep the rental unit and the complex in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and complying with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. That duty:

  • Applies even if the tenant knew about the condition before signing — “as is” does not work for an RTA tenancy
  • Covers structure, plumbing, heating, electrical, appliances you supplied, elevators and common areas you control, and pest problems
  • Continues while a dispute or arrears file is running — you cannot pause repairs to pressure a tenant
  • Is judged on what you did and when, so date every request, visit and invoice

Tenants have duties too — ordinary cleanliness, and repairing undue damage they, their occupants or guests cause wilfully or negligently — but their failure does not cancel yours. Triage repairs like a manager: emergencies (no heat in season, no water, active leak, no power) the same day, urgent items in 24 to 72 hours, routine work batched within 7 to 14 days. Typical GTA 2026 trade costs to budget against are a handyman at $60–$120 an hour, a plumber at $80–$170 an hour, and an HVAC service call at $100–$250. The detailed playbook is in how to handle maintenance and repairs.

2. Keep vital services running

You must not withhold, cut off, or interfere with a vital service you are responsible for providing: heat, fuel, electricity, hot and cold water. Cutting a service to collect rent or force a tenant out is one of the fastest ways to an urgent tenant application against you.

  • Heat — province: at least 20°C between September 1 and June 15.
  • Heat — Toronto: at least 21°C between October 1 and May 15, where heating is provided at the owner’s expense (Municipal Code Chapter 497, renamed the Indoor Temperature Standards Bylaw on June 1, 2026). Where both rules apply, meet the stricter one.
  • Cooling — Toronto: if you provide air conditioning, it must be operated from June 1 to September 30 to maintain no more than 26°C, and kept in good working order. You are not required to install air conditioning where none exists.
  • Outages and breakdowns: tell the tenant what failed, what you have dispatched, and when you expect it restored — in writing. A dated update prevents most “no heat” complaints from becoming applications.

3. Keep the safety systems working

  • Smoke alarms: required on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. The landlord installs, maintains and tests them, replaces them at end of life (typically 10 years), and gives the tenant the manufacturer’s maintenance information. A tenant must not disable an alarm — and must tell you if one fails.
  • Carbon monoxide alarms — changed January 1, 2026: under Ontario Regulation 87/25 amending the Fire Code, a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage — or heated by air from a fuel-burning appliance outside the home — now needs a CO alarm adjacent to each sleeping area and on every storey, including floors with no sleeping area. Many units that were compliant in 2025 are not compliant now. Check every unit in 2026, not just at turnover.
  • Electrical work: hire a Licensed Electrical Contractor and follow Electrical Safety Authority notification rules — do not do unlicensed electrical work in a rental.
  • Seasonal safety: clear snow and ice from private areas you control within Toronto’s required windows, keep exits and furnace areas clear, and service fuel-burning appliances on schedule.

4. Respect entry, privacy and quiet enjoyment

Once a tenancy starts, the unit is the tenant’s home. Your rights of entry are specific:

  • General entry (repairs, inspection, mortgagee/insurer viewing): at least 24 hours’ written notice stating the reason, the day, and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
  • Showings after a notice or agreement to end the tenancy: between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., after making a reasonable effort to inform the tenant — the 24-hour rule is different here, so do not confuse the two.
  • No-notice entry only for a genuine emergency, or where the tenant consents at the time.
  • Never change the locks without giving the tenant the new key, photograph or enter for reasons outside the Act, or harass, obstruct, coerce or threaten a tenant. You must not substantially interfere with the tenant’s reasonable enjoyment — and that includes acting reasonably on a credible complaint about another tenant’s conduct.

How that plays out in a live dispute is in how to handle tenant complaints and disputes.

5. Follow the money rules: lease, deposits and rent

  • Deposits — only two are legal: a rent deposit of no more than one rental period, applied only to the last period’s rent, and a refundable key deposit of no more than the actual replacement cost, refunded when the keys are returned. Damage, security, pet and cleaning deposits are illegal, and a lease clause asking for one is void.
  • Interest on the rent deposit: pay it annually at the guideline rate — 2.1% for 2026. It can be applied to top the deposit up to the current lawful rent where the Act allows.
  • Rent receipts: provide them free on request, including to a former tenant who asks within 12 months after leaving. Never charge for a receipt, a lease copy process, or postdated cheques — and you cannot require postdated cheques or automatic debit as a condition, though a tenant may agree voluntarily.
  • Rent increases: for most units first occupied on or before November 15, 2018, the 2026 guideline is 2.1%. Serve Form N1 at least 90 days ahead, no more than once in 12 months. Units first occupied after November 15, 2018 are exempt from the cap, but still need a proper N1, 90 days, and the 12-month rule. A fixed term still continues month-to-month when it ends.
  • No illegal charges: no fines, penalties, or fees the Act does not permit, and no rent withholding games in reverse — if rent is late, the process is a Form N4 and then the Board, not a lock, a shut-off, or a charge.

6. Screen fairly and lawfully

Responsibility starts before move-in. Under Ontario Regulation 290/98 you may ask for income information, rental history, and a credit check with the applicant’s consent, and you must apply one consistent standard to every applicant. You may not screen on Human Rights Code grounds — including race, place of origin, family status, disability, or receipt of public assistance — and a criminal-record check and collecting a Social Insurance Number are not permitted screening tools. Good screening prevents a share of later disputes: see how to find good tenants and how to screen prospective tenants.

7. Answer complaints and keep records

  • Log every complaint and repair request the day it arrives: who, what, when, and what you did next
  • Acknowledge it the same day, even if the answer is only the next step and its date
  • Keep the lease, receipts ledger, notices with Certificates of Service, inspection photos, and trade invoices together by unit — at a hearing, this file is your evidence
  • Do move-out duties properly when a tenancy ends: inspections, keys and fobs counted, deposit interest settled, and left-behind property handled under the Act’s rules — see what to do when a tenant moves out

8. Meet your tax and city duties

  • Income and records: rental income is taxable, platforms and tenants do not do your reporting for you, and the CRA position on non-compliant short-term rentals (deduction denial for non-compliant periods) makes compliance paperwork worth keeping.
  • Toronto Vacant Home Tax: residential properties are taxed at 3% of Current Value Assessment if declared, deemed or determined vacant. Every owner must declare for the previous year — the declaration deadline for the 2025 year was April 30, 2026 — even if the home was occupied. Renting the unit on a genuine long-term tenancy is the usual way an investment unit is occupied.
  • Condo and building rules: register, insure and run the unit inside your condo corporation’s declaration, bylaws and rules as well as the city’s — see the condo section below.
  • Insurance: carry landlord insurance for the actual use. A homeowner policy that does not know the unit is rented is a gap, not coverage.

9. End a tenancy only through the Board

A notice is not an eviction. Only an LTB order, enforced by the Court Enforcement Office (the Sheriff), can force a tenant out. Within that rule, know the 2026 clocks:

  • Non-payment: since September 21, 2026, the Form N4 termination period is 7 days, down from 14. If the arrears are not paid, the next step is Form L1.
  • Own use: for a landlord’s own-use Form N12 served on or after September 21, 2026, if the termination date is at least 120 days after the notice is given, no one month’s rent compensation (or alternate unit) is owed. That exemption does not apply to a purchaser’s own-use N12, and the intended occupant must normally move in within 60 days of the termination date or bad faith is presumed if the tenant files a T5.
  • Use current forms: the Board replaced N5, N6, N8, N12, N13, L1, L2, L9, L10 and T5 on September 21, 2026. Old versions will not be accepted after November 30, 2026 — download fresh every time.
  • Review clock: since July 1, 2026, a request to review an LTB order must be filed within 15 days of the order, down from 30.
  • No self-help at any stage: no lock changes, utility shut-offs, removing belongings, or “you must leave by Friday” letters. Each one creates a tenant application and damages your own file.

Condo landlords: the second layer

If the unit is a condo, you answer to two rulebooks at once. The corporation’s declaration and rules can restrict leasing terms, require a lease summary and tenant information to be filed with the corporation, set move and elevator booking rules, and ban short-term rentals outright even where the city would allow them. You are also responsible for your tenant’s compliance with the corporation’s rules — a noise or damage file is often a condo enforcement file before it is a Board file. Confirm the building’s current rules before you list, not after the first complaint.

If you rent short-term instead

A paying guest on a stay under 28 consecutive nights in Toronto is not an RTA tenant, so most of this guide is replaced by the short-term rental regime — but the landlord duties do not get lighter, they change shape: rent only your principal residence, hold a city registration ($390 per year) and show the number on every listing, respect the 180-night annual cap for an entire unit, get past your condo board’s rules as a second gate, and charge and remit correctly — the Municipal Accommodation Tax is 6% since August 1, 2026, plus 13% HST on the MAT-inclusive amount. See what a short-term rental is.

DIY or hire a manager?

One unit, nearby, with a clean file is manageable yourself — if you can meet the clocks: 24-hour entry notices, 90-day increase notices, 15-day review windows, and same-day emergency repairs. The case for a manager is volume, distance, or a file already heading for the Board, where one stale form or miscounted date restarts the process. Typical 2026 bands are 8–12% of collected rent for long-term management and 18–25% for short-term management. See what a property management company does and our Toronto management page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a landlord’s main responsibility in Ontario?

Keeping the unit in a good state of repair and fit for habitation, in compliance with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards, for the whole tenancy. That duty applies even if the tenant knew about the problem when they signed, and it sits alongside duties on vital services, safety systems, privacy and lawful process.

Can my lease make the tenant responsible for repairs or snow clearing?

Not for the landlord’s core duties. A lease term that tries to contract out of the Residential Tenancies Act is void, and the repair and maintenance duty stays with the landlord even if the tenant agreed in writing to do the work. Tenants are responsible for ordinary cleanliness and for repairing undue damage they, their occupants or guests cause.

What deposits can an Ontario landlord legally take?

Only two: a rent deposit of no more than one rental period, applied only to the last period’s rent, with interest paid annually at the guideline rate (2.1% for 2026), and a refundable key deposit of no more than the actual replacement cost. Damage, security, pet and cleaning deposits are illegal.

How much notice do I need to enter a rental unit?

For most entries — repairs, inspections, viewings by a mortgagee or insurer — at least 24 hours’ written notice stating the reason, the day, and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Showings after a notice or agreement to end the tenancy run 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a reasonable effort to inform the tenant. Entry without notice is only for a genuine emergency or with the tenant’s consent at the time.

What changed for landlords in 2026?

Four things to act on: carbon monoxide alarms are now required on every storey (not just near sleeping areas) in qualifying homes since January 1, 2026; the rent guideline is 2.1%; since September 21, 2026 the N4 period is 7 days, a landlord own-use N12 at 120 days or more needs no compensation, and the main Board forms were replaced (old versions rejected after November 30, 2026); and since July 1, 2026 an LTB order review must be requested within 15 days.

Can I evict a tenant myself if they stop paying rent?

No. Serve a Form N4 (7-day termination period since September 21, 2026), then apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board on Form L1 if the arrears are not paid. Only a Board order enforced by the Court Enforcement Office (the Sheriff) can remove a tenant. Changing locks, shutting off services or removing belongings is prohibited self-help.

Duties piling up, or a file heading for the Board? Talk to Home Again about management — we run the repairs, the notices, the records and the turnover for Toronto and GTA owners.