Screening Tenants in Ontario: What Landlords Can Ask and Require

Choosing a tenant is one of the biggest decisions a rental landlord makes. Ontario lets you ask a fair amount of questions, but it also sets firm limits on what you can ask for, what you can collect, and what you can base a refusal on.

If you are an applicant, the same rules tell you what to expect and when a request may go too far. This article walks through the main screening tools, the deposit rules, the Human Rights Code limits, and the lease basics.

What a landlord may ask for

A landlord may ask a prospective tenant for credit references and rental history, and for permission to run a credit check. The landlord may use these to select or refuse the applicant.

Income information is treated differently. A landlord may ask for it only if they also ask for credit references, rental history or a credit check, and it must be considered together with that other information.

There is an exception. If the landlord asked for all of the listed information but obtained only income information, the landlord may consider income alone.

• Credit references and rental history: allowed.
• Consent to a credit check: allowed.
• Income information: only alongside the items above.
• Income alone: only where the landlord asked for everything but got only income information.

Guarantors, deposits and post-dated cheques

A landlord may require a prospective tenant to get a guarantee for the rent, so guarantor clauses are permitted. A guarantor who is named as a tenant in the lease but has no right to occupy the unit does not become a tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). How far a guarantor is liable depends on the wording of the guarantee, so read it carefully before signing.

The only security deposit a landlord may collect is a rent deposit. It can be no more than one rent period or one month's rent, whichever is less, and it earns annual interest at the rent increase guideline rate. A security deposit may be required only in line with RTA sections 105 and 106.

Neither a landlord nor a lease may require a tenant or prospective tenant to provide post-dated cheques or other negotiable instruments for rent.

What a landlord cannot base a refusal on

Under the Human Rights Code, everyone has a right to equal treatment in the occupancy of accommodation, without discrimination because of the following grounds:

• race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship and creed
• sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression
• age, marital status and family status
• disability and the receipt of public assistance

Using income information, credit checks, credit references, rental history or guarantees in the manner the regulation prescribes does not infringe the Code. In other words, the screening tools described above are allowed when used as the rules set out. Using them as a cover for refusing someone on a protected ground is a different matter, and a lawyer can help assess a specific situation.

Special cases: shared kitchens, basement apartments and young tenants

The Code right is not infringed where the occupant must share a bathroom or kitchen with the owner or the owner's family, in a dwelling where they live. Similarly, the RTA does not apply where the occupant must share a bathroom or kitchen with the owner, or with the owner's spouse, child or parent, who lives in the same building.

A self-contained basement apartment does not fall under this exemption. If the unit has its own kitchen and bathroom, assume the full RTA and Code rules apply.

A 16- or 17-year-old who has withdrawn from parental control has a right to equal treatment in renting accommodation. A lease they sign is enforceable against them as if they were 18.

The lease and what to do next

For most private rentals, landlords must use the Ontario standard lease for new leases. If a tenant asks in writing and does not receive it within 21 days, the tenant may withhold one month's rent.

The RTA applies to rental units despite any agreement or waiver to the contrary. Any lease term that conflicts with the Act is void. A tenant cannot sign away these protections, and a landlord cannot rely on a clause that breaks them.

• Landlords: you may ask for credit references, rental history and consent to a credit check, and you may ask for income information only alongside those items; income alone may be considered only where you asked for everything but obtained only income information.
• Landlords: set any deposit at no more than one rent period or one month's rent, whichever is less, and never ask for post-dated cheques.
• Landlords: use the Ontario standard lease and keep your screening reasons tied to the rules, not to protected grounds.
• Applicants: read any guarantee wording closely before a guarantor signs.
• Applicants: ask for the standard lease in writing and keep a copy of your request.
• Both: get legal advice if a situation involves a shared home, a young applicant or a disputed refusal.

Frequently asked questions